Two Poems

Reid Williams

zenubia
thirty years later—
instant regret!

forgive my pained wink
and all the lies about history

lesson less learned
I suppose

as, don’t look now, but
tomorrow is unfortunately developing into today

and I remember that my perfect suntan
was from a week of beautiful days
spent sick and by the window

has thy forgotten thy wooden spoon?
for striking thy inner child?

it would seem so

I’m sorry we never made it
to the air conditioned forests
of the Pacific Northwest

and for losing my nerve
at the putt putt driving range

fingering the ring in my pocket
and trying to count the divots on the lavender ball

then, as now, I had to keep starting over

this morning, there is rhinestone dew
on the patio plants

it is summer and I have not cooked in so long

all the world’s a waitlist,
it turns out

all the men and women?
merely late

conduit
somewhere in Missouri a garage door
mysteriously keeps opening and closing

and my friend,
the reluctant conduit
through which all good things flow

has crocheted a new altarpiece
“pierce the veil,
but don’t forget to patch it”

I awake from a nightmare about wearing
my socks in the street
and would really have preferred one of those
“teeth dreams” everyone keeps talking about

that or be temporarily slowed
by a baseless accusation,
mercifully given time
to stake stock of my actions

the conduit has his faults:
he is a White Claw drinker,
is particularly vulnerable
to the mentor fallacy

and associates almost exclusively
with people who look out of place
outdoors

but he enjoys getting high
with his sign-obsessed coworkers

getting anything before a wedding

and was once led by the elbow, gently,
out of the stucco whorehouse
and sent back to his half of the duplex

stumbling across the bridge
built purely for show


  

Reid Williams is a New York City-based writer and social worker. He has performed his work both domestically and abroad. His fiction and poetry have been featured in publications such as New Papers and The Gallatin Review. This is the first time his poetry has been reproduced by a US-based publisher.