Partly Cloudy, by Jordan Abel

1

Of course. Rocks under

toes. Skin under sun. Light

under mind. Of course.

Sweat over nails. Knees

behind dirt. Jackets over

trees. Of course. Signs

over eyes. Shoes under

hats. Ears beside fences.

Of course. Sky under

sweaters. Branches over

shorts. Backpacks behind

bushes. Of course.

2

Of course. Nitrogen over

oxygen. Argon through

carbon dioxide. Neon

beside helium. Methane

behind krypton. Hydrogen

under nitrogen. Of course.

3

Of course. Helium through

jackets. Feet between

neon. Trees over methane.

Of course. Oxygen under

nails. Mind behind argon.

Carbon dioxide through

sweaters. Of course. Shoes

over krypton. Hydrogen

under hats. Nitrogen beside

sky. Of course.

Jordan Abel is a First Nations writer whose work has been published in CV2, Grain and Canadian Literature. He is a contributing editor for Geist and a former editor for PRISM international. His first collection of poetry is forthcoming from Talonbooks. Visit him at www.jordanabel.ca.