house of strays by Kristy Bowen

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend November 20, 2014   house of strays   Kristy Bowen

Suddenly, a hole opens in the year and we slip into it, the riptide pull of strange, lonely dogs and broken phone lines. You forgive me if I mistake hunted for haunted, but I do like to rearrange things in my body every few years. Take a can of gasoline to the frayed and ghosted. Lights out. All hands on deck. Still you wonder why I keep losing my shoes in the road and coaxing cats in the alley with cans of tunafish and a flashlight. Why my contentment is beautiful, but highly improbable, sort of like four leaf clovers or an ice cream truck in the middle of the night. This tiny thing breathing between us that aches something awful. By summer, I am slipping all the complimentary mints in my coat                     pockets while you pay the check. Gripping the railings on bridges to keep diving over. Some dark dog in my throat when I say hello.            Copyright © 2014 by Kristy Bowen. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “‘house of strays’ is one segment of a short series investigating the juxtaposition of both interior and exterior habitat—how physical space shapes mental space and how we live both through the subjective idea of ‘home’ and the physical manifestation of it.” —Kristy Bowen   Kristy Bowen is the author of girl show (Black Lawrence Press, 2014). She runs dancing girl press & studio and lives in Chicago. Most Recent Book by Bowen   girl show (Black Lawrence Press, 2014) "Settling In" by Jenny Factor "Wonder Cabinet" by Tina Chang "Theories of Time and Space" by Natasha Trethewey Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038