Rockwell by S.P. Flannery

Not abstract existing within obtuse,
limned real and sold to popular
periodicals for everyone to skim
the surface,
social commentary we lost to esoteric
indulgences, Caligula reborn
to preside over a modern bacchanalia
of forget, escape the confines
and problems, critique from distant
mushrooms eaten
because of instructions written neatly
with black ink on white paper.


S P Flannery, Madison, USA

Terrene Explorer by S. P. Flannery

Slugs climb from hostas to
stick to windows, basement
portals that these viscous individuals
use to ascend from the ground
of moss and mould, debris where mushrooms
protrude to toxicate terrestrial fauna.
Trails cling and refract sunlight
unobstructed by clouds or night,
this armada races to the edge
where the sea of glass becomes replaced
with aluminum siding, white, abrasive
to a gelatinous epidermal coat.
These invertebrates freefall back,
moist loam soil greets them home
from the xeric realm of outer space.


S. P. Flannery, Madison, USA