Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Panama City Beach in Spring by Jake Sheff

The irises are breaking free from
Non-being into being everywhere
Today, like poetry according to
Diotima in Plato’s Symposium.
Ceteris paribus, I will arrive at
The border like tomorrow’s synonym.

How many fatalistic parties let
The uninitiated die of thirst?
Oddly, 2 might be the number, when
My body feels tied to some dead hints…
How do I speak to only you, my
Body, and everyone at once?

Duende gets denuded by the sea
Of college kids. Big Muddy keeps walking
The walk, talking the talk, and the whole
Fucking lot of them emotionally at
Arm’s length. During Monday Night Football,
The season gets its house – and lack thereof – in order.

--

Jake Sheff is a pediatrician and US Air Force veteran. He’s published a full-length collection of formal poetry, A Kiss to Betray the Universe (White Violet Press), along with two chapbooks: Looting Versailles (Alabaster Leaves Publishing) and The Rites of Tires (SurVision).