Collin Colaizzi

3

March 16, 2020

This is the time to write 
With the sun falling behind the 
Distant houses. 
Paler and paler the light becomes. 

Each window in the house
Is the frame of a painting 
Footprints in the snow, that’s the foreground,
The winter basketball court behind 

Someone came on the cement floor
Downstairs in the basement 
And they didn’t clean up their mess
But that’s okay, all those dead

Babies. Let’s talk about them! 
Limit your gatherings 
Get real focused on the interpersonal 
Until she texts and asks 

“What are your thoughts on it?” 
“Eating your ass like an oyster.” 
The line had to appear at some point, folks
There’s an artfulness to all his schematics 

Any one of these mountains could 
Be climbed at any time, they’re ready for it
But you’d rather sit and watch 
A movie about it.

Focusing on getting the body right
Look what the dog dragged in from the 
Yard. Chased it all the way to the basketball
Court, traced it really. 

Then brought it back into the house 
Lodged deep in her throat, the poor 
Vole. Hacked up on the hardwood, all proud 
Then back to the kennel. 

And he wishes it was his cock. 
Too aggressive? Go for an evening 
Walk, becoming part of the painting 
Slip and fall on the ice. 

Rushed to the local E.R. 
The feet failed her now 
With a gust of vitriol the dog 
Shook it to death, and she loses her life force

In much the same way at the present 
Moment. Undisciplined, some will say, 
No artfulness in his schematics, 
Opt for the well-worn boots, this 

Was the problem. The new boots were 
Hungry, desperate to commit betrayal from the moment 
They took that first crunch in the 
Crystalline snow. 

A bloody painting! 
Look out a different window 
Before the truck headlights get too close, 
There’s no shame in getting excited.

She sits and makes fun of her sister
How long will that go on? 
Eating all those words with a glass of 
Fat-free milk. 

Take the calculator
Add up all these tableaus
The cost was the broken relationship 
And a lost dog. 

We’ll keep it! 
We’re getting a cat! 
But it will all happen again. 
And again.  

© 2023