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              by Bates Corlieu

Tonight thoughts are cancer trees circling my house
and I the blind woman peering into their shadows
drowsy drunk on light filtered through eyelashes
                                                  halfway over
                                              slipping through
                                         walking fast
                                   on my own now               
                        looking over a left shoulder is
                   scarier than
               running hard
            trip
            sprawl
               like the rug jerk
                   table cloth yank
                        limbs akimbo
                             scramble on gravel
                         can’t get away
                   can’t wake up
but saved
by the wind banging open my front door
glad
I’m not a deaf man straining for your footsteps
because tonight thoughts are rocks in a coffee can