TWIT
You are being followed
by all the wrong people.
A Goliath in lamb’s skin—A bandwidth
of threadbare apron strings. Dusty, unkempt,
tied to the mother-ship—Undercover courier
to self, swept into the vast ocean
of cereal boxes and dreams. Your psyche’s
back-pack lost track of many things, mostly
an avowal to sit on a porch swing
letting a fanfare of moths hum
in the urban lamp-light, tongue deckling
the flesh of a book—where words cross
a continent without you. You were the road
through China Town—Accented vendors
divvying up the tusks. An elephant memory
manic as paparazzi after a bar brawl in neon.
What time is it? It is time for war now.
No need for a wardrobe. You are only a shadow
holding a suitcase. The sooth-sayers have left you
facing the enemy, a mouth duct-taped
by your own rattled hand.
Cynthia Atkins’ second collection, “In The Event of Full Disclosure” was recently featured on the Huffington Post and the Bill and Dave Cocktail Hour, and reviewed in [PANK] and the North American Review. She is an assistant professor of English at Virginia Western Community College, and lives in Rockbridge County, VA on the Maury River with her family.
