I flinch from the sparks.
\nEverything is blurs and ashes.
\nOnce in a while, a cloud separates
\nand breaks from the herd
\ncrowding the sky above me.
\nThis lets a star,
\nlike a brilliant mistake,
\nbreak through. <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Night is a buzzing flail.
\n
\nThe moon\u2019s rising
\nmakes the raccoons drunk.
\n
\nThe smell of wet fur
\nfrom mating skunks
\nis a cold, sharp odor.
\n
\nMushrooms
\nfill in my cracks
\nand crevices.
\n
\nEverything around me
\nfeeds in the night
\nand sleeps in the day. <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
The seasonal melodies of the geese have ended.
\nThe wind plaits straw grass into ugly hats.
\n
\nLike a predictable bout of insanity,
\nthe snow begins. <\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
I have lived through a string
\nof dry, thirsty weeks.
\nThe rain is such an amazing,
\nhysterical thing! <\/p>\n
* * * <\/p>\n
Put down roots. I flinch from the sparks. Everything is blurs and ashes. Once in a while, a cloud separates and breaks from the herd crowding the sky above me. This lets a star, like a brilliant mistake, break through. * * * Night is a buzzing flail. The moon\u2019s rising makes the raccoons drunk. The [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4851,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[251],"class_list":["post-4812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","tag-photo-by-bradley-witham"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4812"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4855,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4812\/revisions\/4855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSpeak only with green lips.
\nListen with wooden ears
\nthen pretend you\u2019re deaf.
\nCover your heart with bark.
\nYour sap is a secret.
\nKeep safe your twigs.
\nPruning is not an option.
\n
\n
\nJohn Barrale is an avid hiker and a jazz aficionado. His poetry has been published in the Paterson Literary Review, Red Wheel Barrow <\/em>(Volumes 1 \u2013 8,) Poetalk, NJ Journal of Poets<\/em>, The Lullwater Review, California Quarterly, Tiger\u2019s Eye Journal, The Penwood Review, The Aurorean, The William and Mary Review, Narrative Northeast, City LitRag, Instigatorzine, Unrorean<\/em>, and East Meets West\u2014American Writers Review.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"