you asked...

ok, you didn't, but i figured since i've been in this poetry class all semester long that i might as well post something. that class has been really good for me. i hated revision prior to this class, but i have learned that there is so much fertile ground in flexibility. this is a poem i wrote a few weeks ago with a great exercise our teacher gave us to help us find words that we don't normally use. it also contains a few Scarlet Letter references, if you're interested. hack away.

After Hitting a Cat

Blood sleds down your lips,
blossoms, a firework frozen
in fur.
Your ears droop,
settle—
tired ashes from the
scourge.

Scarlet pinned to your chest,
fixed as Hester’s “A,”
your only affair,
to cross
the road.
still, you are dressed in the
red shirt of
death.

I lurk over you like night
over the scaffold,
but on the asphalt
your secret is
smeared.

your eyes
look away,
shiny pools of
quiet oil.