Against brute force in the streets, I align cutlery, china, books, pens, socks, and shoes, as if symmetry in coffee mugs, water glasses marching in formation, and pottery tidy as a sonnet, could make order from chaos beyond my walls. If storm troopers invade, smash my smug glassware, rip up folded linens, and upend easy…

Trees grow tall taking up sunlight and water. Bacteria earn their keep by dancing in the guts of 4,000 kinds of mammals, 10,000 species of birds, 12,000 of nematode worms. I live by each bite of buttered rice, by stocking the pantry with dark chocolate and salted almonds. And every time I pour cat chow…

These words are insects, a class below the kingdom of Mammalia, troublesome gnats. One word alone is no threat, but a swarm of syllables abuzz with rumor leaves welts on friable egos, stings the body politic, an itch we scratch till we’re raw. Swatting and swearing gets us no relief. I want a flyswatter big…

What grows up, eventually falls down. The body, being humanmade, has no warranty, needs soft packaging, and wants frequent refueling. The body’s moving parts work well enough on flat surfaces, and all its parts move, but a body in motion will not stay in motion; sleep demands the user be out of body, prey to…

Black lady in the sink– every day I must decide to kill you or let you live. I drape a length of toilet paper over the edge of our trap, a path to lead you out of that white enamel desert. You ignore that road to freedom until I turn my back and in the…