from The Sugar House

Charlie Malone

 

 

the newly agreed upon Reaganite future is shiny

                                                                and not this

the newly agreed upon future of the family is not

                                                        nuclear/(unclear)

 

grass will not be mowed regularly

the roof of the garage will sway, buckle, & bury

 

forget the future tense

    right now it’s the 80s

 

           the children are exceptional

           the sweet corn is delicious

           each new cul-de-sac is a nod

           to the first big red O in Ohio

 

                   

                  ~~~

 

 

beyond this—Cleveland

                                     its methane flame burning in the flats

 

                       El Greco’s Christ on The Cross

hangs outside

constant construction cannot keep pace

             with growth and suffering

a big peaceful cement pond reflects tarnished copper

                                the Methodist’s oil-can church

 

 

& escalators carry

                                                                                   families

                                  business & homeless men & women up

                                              into the marble belly of a tower

 

& all the streets and towers light up for show and safety

                                                                    in sounding night

                                                          city is a chorus of sirens

 

& glass doors hold back stale humid air

                          worse when wind blows off the shallow lake

                                                             where old shipwrecks

                                 make drunk stories and craft beer labels

 

& seagulls chase garbage trucks

                                                                         warm currents

                                                        of exhaust lift their wings

 

 

~~~~~

Charlie Malone lives, writes, and teaches in Fort Collins, Colorado where he edits a quarterly, ultra-local newszine, Matterhorn, and curates the poetry for Matter Journal. Both publications belong to Wolverine Farm Publishing. Charlie went to school for many years at Kent State and Colorado State; he liked it just fine. His work has appeared in Sugar House Review, Laurel Review, Phoebe, Harpur Palate, Boneshaker: A Bicycling Almanac, and Permafrost.