The Rabbits of Upland Road —Frannie Lindsay
You are going to lose everything.
The funeral home will show up to gather
your father beneath a velvet shroud.
The red potatoes will sprout in their basket
inside the window. Someone will wash
and fold the bedding and give it away.
The neighbors’ visits will stop.
The art will assess at barely a fraction
and then you will run out of
boxes. The plants will wither. No one
will want the rare books. In time,
your handwriting, too, will tie itself
into mad tangles. You will never
be granted the mercy you pled for.
Your hoarse voice will startle you.
But look: two brown rabbits
have popped naïvely out from behind
the lilacs. In their lovely identical eyes
rests the gem of everyday trust. It needs
no faceting. Then the evening blinks although
it is nowhere near dark, and leaves you
alone with just enough thanks
to tear off one more rag.
Carrie O. Adams
Jennifer Bullis
Toi Derricotte
Kelly Dolejsi
Aisha Down
George Eklund
Michael Hettich
Julie Swarstad Johnson
Gregory Kimbrell
Kate LaDew
Frannie Lindsay
Kimberly Miller
Daniel Edward Moore
Sean F. Munro
Matthew Murrey
Tolu Oloruntoba
Sarah Pape
Lawrence Raab
Elizabeth Robinson
Aaron Smith