Three Poems

by Edward Simpson

Doggone

I smell mildew too easy, find a mouse under my bed,
lobotomize through its ocean eyes, sweep it up
and throw it in the dumpster—

aching for nothing, smoke falling out my neck,
looking toward that blue death rearing on the horizon,
listening to the distant train, coughing moths—

and I can never find the right words to speak,
and I can never go back to the day we first met,
and I can’t break from a circle— I keep looking at birds in trees
so I can stop thinking long enough to—

even when I close my eyes, I leave my body—
there’s some craving to grab the firmament between my teeth
and gnaw the pulse right out star fire
like a wolf gnashing through a hare, splattering the snow.

A Letter from a Chili’s in the Future

Some things never heal back the same. Some things
never heal. Then the movie ended.
We watched the credits to be sure there was no stinger
and finished the popcorn in the parking lot.
It was a great relationship before the alien invasion.
Back then, Biden wasn’t a brain in a jar.
Gal Gadot didn’t command a fleet of hyperion.
I bought Trojan Magnums just in case and wondered
if I’d ever see an angel. Then I met Jerry Springer
on the beach in Panama City. Where is Spider-Man now?
Who will save us? I keep checking the weather
with a wet finger. There’s no telling if she loves me
or if I love her. But if we are about to die,
we might as well try it out.

An Advert for Salvation

No horse? No six pack? Did your clone run away last winter?
Can’t get no satisfaction? Looking for ways to mute the rage?
In a trance thanks to Nighthawks?
Does the dog give you his face
and a breeze meander through your open pane?
Ask your doctor about a Charley horse.
Buy our gin and get a palm reading on Fridays.
It won’t fix the nights when the walls are breathing,
but it will be easier to pretend the universe is more than a rattlesnake.
Now back to an anomaly you’re really taking for granted.

Edward Simpson grew up in Tallahassee, FL, and graduated from Florida State University with a BA in English. Currently, he resides in Denver, CO, where he works as a freelance writer. His previous poetry has appeared in the Tampa Review 59/60 and the Eunoia Review.