11-29-2023

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Scott Ferry​

​

WHAT SHOULD I SAY 

 

to august on his way out?

a gentle hiss

 

in his ear

a fruit half ripe half rotten

 

offered as a gift

this will make you sleep

 

this will make you fall

and forget

 

your name

 

I WONDER ABOUT SEEDS WHEN THE LIGHT IS WANING

 

seeds that hit the ground some on asphalt

some in shadow how do any of them

 

grow? i have to remind myself

that it is the nature of wind and rain

 

and sun to implant seeds into a womb

that they are able to root and crack

 

and burrow and stretch that this is

the nature of this noise-wrought

 

place of siren and clock and denial

to pull each epicotyl out of its

 

housing to rip apart the back

of the sky and open a great

 

red wing towards god

 

THE SUN PALE ORANGE

 

and i chase my son growling as a father does

and he screams and traces off like a recurring

decimal behind the raspberry branches

0.99999999999

 

until i find him near the garden steps with his

round infinite eyes looking up at an orb weaver

the web above him sequenced in

spirals

 

and he says oh hi daddy because i am no longer

a thing which seeks and grasps but a soft light

in the west holding his intact

body

 

and he becomes a whole number in a sea of paint

with only some memorized equations

thrown out on to the sky like a

prayer

​

-from each imaginary arrow, selected by Assistant Editor, Karen Carr 

 

Scott Ferry helps our Veterans heal as a RN in the Seattle area. His work has been published in Night Heron Barks, New York Quarterly, Banyan Review, Heavy Feather, and many others. His seventh book of poetry, each imaginary arrow, is now available from Impspired Press. He has a collaboration with California poet Daniel McGinn titled Fill Me with Birds upcoming in early 2024 from Meat For Tea Press. More of his work can be found @ ferrypoetry.com.