Beachball
13.4 (Summer 2009)   The 2River View AuthorsPoemsPDFMake a bookArchives2River

Lori Coale

All Things End

the existence of fossils
in distant time
vestiges,nothing more than

dust of bones pressed
against the form of memory
what was it to have lived?

aching, rapt
our bodies deny us
immortality, life deepens

finally understand
there is no meaning
only the pressure of fuck

pull us through our biology
shape us for love
shape us for conclusion

an indention upon a bed
smile, glance, whisper
follicle, pore, membrane

we are made of even smaller things

July Fourth

We are aflame;
candles, fireworks
at intermittent times
our fingers in bandages,
bits and blisters
pressed to lips
as the sparks fall,
curtains blaze against the pane
of our bedroom window

combustible our blood
our bones boil
our essence, a wisp, a puff
of nothing there
flash of flesh dream of death
cold stars strung against
the mortality of our kiss

when I hear the explosion in the background

you know I come bearing gifts
Blackcats and sparklers
the hot, hot heat of your name
burned into my groin
how you stand at attention
you patriotic son of a bitch
how I love your display

Lori Coale lives in Tucson, Arizona. She has previously been published in
Drexel Online Journal and Spinning S Literary Magazine. She divides her time between
her family and Vicious Circle Poetry Workshop. contact