dan in red

one lonely forest fern
opens as a
beady black child
put on
a future plan
diet

of fish back bones
sticking out from the far east
sand we're trying to
send home
to one of those few left

channels with currents
least imposing

not this
thing, ha
no
incompletely complex
and gray

but to share
i accept

one opens
takes turns running
neighborhood routes for
scarcity-inscribed distros

guess they felt once
they needed to deliver
resource officers & bossy women--
hoping to save the boys
wrestling team, conspiracy any-
way.

one lonely forest fern
opens as a
yellow sun feeling big
as a city filters and in the
common areas jams to
pop-punch red
on a thick base

it glows for you only
you in the dark with a satellite pill
running down the street
as if
the shadows were out
to attack.

it is already okay.
good morning.

one lonely forest fern
opens as a
mediocre mad magician
this is ours

smoked hair from dark room lab
tables, chairs, chemical
cabinets 'quipped fumes so sad deep
and black,
black so black,
as are
those soft bellies

we're careful
people

(sweeten and take alone, machine
slice fruit and
let it all
suffer for a second
time).