Acupuncture By Charlotte Reed - Get a Free Blog

Scarecrow
By E.J. Bennett
Today, the woman traveled
the town, past homes pinned shut,
lawnmowers still
perched in the yards.
Screens stapled over windows
why-ing into the wind.
Th e woman drove to the grocery, testing the weight of a can
in her hand. Hearing the
chigga-chigga-chigga
as it spooled to the back of the cart.
Th e woman surrendered to the car
then the street, then the house.
Hoisting paper bags upon her hips, she entered the kitchen
where the man leaned into the table.
(Aft er her wedding, a bride fl ung a fi stful of rice
over her left shoulder, seed scattering
in soil. Grandmother bowed
collecting her luck grain by grain
to boil for the family.)
When the soup began to simmer,
hiss behind microwave walls,
the woman cupped the can like a candle
then watched the broth tip and spill into bowls.
magus ~ 12 ~ mabus