3 Poems
Featuring “Poem,” “Table Talk has new parents,” and “Fable” by Matia Emsellem
Matia Emsellem
Poem
It’s like lighthouses except I’m not out there
It’s like that man wearing jewelry except no one is afraid
It’s like pigeons in the city but we kiss on the lips
It’s like a speech at my wedding but the dogs are behaving
Yesterday I caught a case of the “oh did I say that already’s”
the room filled with Sensation, like big questions.
Have you ever met a tourist who has lost their souvenir?
They clutch the air, the cause of a magic trick
like a cartoon run off a cliff.
Table Talk has new parents
Let’s chase away tomorrow now, together
I can still spot your father tripping on his underwear running into the wheat and out of the barn
at sunset.
It’s one big laugh hard held from crying,
spoonfuls, medicine meaning because you are meaningful
and if they take you from me I’m the final second of the hour
An entire life forgotten.
Fable
I’ve always wanted a life in a submarine but my parents were fish
who wouldn’t let me near water.
It’s too wet, they would say;
That’s why we chose to leave.
Plus the cornucopias slain on tablecloths made them crave an ambition.
With my eyes closed I’m either niece or nephew
so I too can understand wanting something different.