Abigail Cloud
The Everyday Demon Experiences Burn-Out

Something on the water.  Something

wholesome, like spoiling corn crops

or sparking a tri-state wildfire.  Or

a bit of glamour, like stopping glass

elevators in casinos, between floors,

 

then dropping them.  I’m tired

of small catastrophe, the delicate

balance between shrugged-off accident

and tiny horror.  Fits of pique, bursts

of desperate memory, tireless, dull

 

annoyance:  How many brittle ankles

can be wrenched in holes?  How many

jugs of milk can be soured before time?

How many smashed heirlooms, rained-

out parades, singed fingertips, coins

 

dropped in grates, stained blouses

before business meetings?  How

many shiny balloons are there still

to burst?

 
Found In Volume 43, No. 02
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Abigail Cloud
About the Author

Abigail Cloud is editor-in-chief of Mid-American Review and teaches at Bowling Green State University. Her work has appeared recently in The Gettysburg ReviewPleiades, and Cincinnati Review.  Her first collection, Sylph, is forthcoming from Pleiades Press.