Four Fabulous Poems by Michael Igoe

All Skin And Bone  

                                                             At  the crack of dawn,                                                                                                                                        giving daytime its due                                                                                                                              we light sunny candles                                                                                                                         held between knuckles.                                                                                                                      Where paths lead                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     past cottonwoods.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         We rise to the occasion,                                                                                                                                      demure, well feathered,                                                                                                                          following up our binges.                                                                                                                                   There’s been recent sight,                                                                                                                                                                                                                           of  big cats in steel traces.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Those who fear them most                                                                                                                                are those who waste away.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Think This Way

                                                           Below modern wings                                                                                                                                               no bondage incurred.                                                                                                                                    Justified by definition,                                                                                                                                        strength even handed.                                                                                                                                     In its increase,                                                                                                                                            it will encourage                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           broods of vipers.                                                                                                                                                               Solving the puzzles,                                                                                                                                                           a learned retaliation.

                                                                                                                                                     Fissure

                                                                   Cast of an arc light                                                                                                                                      in its easy patterns.                                                                                                                                                      An eyeless light                                                                                                                                              on broken seals.                                                                                                                                                Allowing discovery                                                                                                                                             of a misplaced box                                                                                                                           into a rainy season.                                                                                                                                        Not just for oneself                                                                                                                                     but for many others.                                                                                                                                                     Those who value life                                                                                                                                           but  only ones lifelike.

                                                                                                                        

Waiting For St. Stephen

                                                                                           Stained fingers                                                                                                                                                                                                   tried to wrangle                                                                                                                                                                        within margins                                                                                                                                                                                     given a chance.                                                                                                                                                      Wrapped around cups,                                                                                                                                                                 they partake of elixirs.                                                                                                                                                                     

Brazenly boozing,                                                                                                                                                                       under a sun’s duct                                                                                                                                      A

kryptonite syndicate,                                                                                                                                                        

imitating bold daylight,                                                                                                                                              in undetermined failure.

Michael Igoe, city boy, neurodiverse, Chicago now Boston. Many works appear in journals online and in print. Recent: maythornmag.art.blog, linktr.ee/spillovermagazine, agapanthuscollective.com. Anthology Inclusions(3)(Fevers of the Mind Press)@amazon.com. National Library of Poetry Editors Choice Award 1997. Twitter: MichaelIgoe5, Instagram: michael.igoe.397.