Poems
by KJ Hannah
Greenberg
Skiff
Little, aquatic, flat-bottomed, sharp-bowed, square-sterned vehicle,
Your sail-propelled existence, conceivably, we regard as dreamlike,
Alternatively, moved thru oars, maybe, by setting poles, gets zoned
For angling, if not for loving’s pleasures; you’re high spirits’ abode.
So, we scarf planks, use double-sided carpet fastens & screws, drill
Gulfs, deftly cut fiberglass, stitch using copper wire, fillet & quartz
Tape interior chines, slather epoxy over exterior angles, sand, sand,
Sand, otherwise, fix flaws, varnish. Later we beautify with coloring.
Subsequently, we putter on inshore or salty streams in crafts devised
For tyro sailors. We pretend we’re captaining yawls, xebecs, or else
Caïques. Imaginably, our ferries seem catamarans, ketches, caravels,
Clippers, brigantines, not down-to-earth, comforting, fishing vessels.
Both as solo scullers & small crews, we exclaim your surroundings,
Regard your painted sides, your maritime bases, as enabling sundry
Deep-sea fantasies although our journeys remain checked by pond
Coastlines, lack of motors, sunburn, further engagements, lassitude.
Equine Expiry
When horsey lives go awry, when their agely movements confound
Their querencias, when predilections for grass or sun grip wrong,
When “sorrow” or “groan” form the province of equine vocabulary,
No established routines ably deter expiry.
For every Sakura flowering in Washington, they’re scores of Japanese
Dead after nuclear fallout, countless families erased because of Little
Boy along with Fat Man, inestimable radioactive pockets continue
Eradicating life as well as hope.
In a faraway galaxy, intelligent cuttlefish use aliens’ bones, not rusk,
To teeth their young. They’re additionally artful at self-ablation, at
Creating “masterpieces” from removing vital tissue, sinews, blood,
Next target’s Earth.
Heteronym
There were no neopronouns nor indications that your preferred
Arcology-spanning antithetical social movements. Fairly looks
Like the dehiscence of our relational status changed as soon as
Social media sought proof of our love.
Going forward, my presents mattered little, in fact, was scoffed.
As well, no matter how many tears marked my socks, there was
No return (invalid accounts make for unhappy exchanges; they
Often produce scarce fruit.)
If only your claggy remarks homed past our spuddles, I’d never
Remain qui vive for better adventures. As is, we’re a scoby like
No other August remnant eking life before falling, still winding
Conducting naught.
Feelings of Animosity in a Dystopia
Our culture’s indolence brings forth social divergence, grand quotas of engagement rings
Featuring moissanite, leadership relying on locum tenes upshots, preserved neopronouns.
Dead cell phone batteries do little to deter locksport participants. Individuals still pan for
Gold, phytomine. Old agents’ A-show’s become no more than kinship adoption. Offering
Survival hinges on current can openers. We’re destined to disobey original blueprints, to
Abide by something less exacting, much flimsier. There’s reduced utility in verbal skills
If competence can’t relate to real life. Guilelessly, people considered “characters” might
Take part in osculations with Truth, otherwise uncontrollably judder apropos few quests.
When we’ve missing equanimity—grey rock posturing fails. Away, Waldensian-like
Denizens, too, consumers purchasing inexpensive invisibility shields (else vanishing
Domiciles’ exteriors via vanatablack paint) prove tenacious akin to ice road truckers.
Pity “Zen-like” antiheroes suffering every bit of pain dealt them. Plagues of winged
Xylocopa sulcatipes dissolve jots of detail. Briefly, neuroplasticity stops with hearts
Attempting to train cane corsi, chihuahuas. Such folks deteriorate asemically akin to
Birds enduring egg binding, geese being plucked live, and roasted hubaras, until the
Causes of syncope are eliminated. Communitarian manners of coping lodge securer.
As concerns invention’s bearing upon message reception, our framing of episodes varies.
Cosmic norms of the Archaic Epoch, dialogical ones of The Classical Epoch, descriptive
Kinds from the Hellenistic Epoch, and prescriptive sorts from The Imperial Epoch, show
How chirography addresses space, whereas orality addresses time. Today, one comeback
To elites’ command of media, to our managed perceptions, is digital gardening; bringing
Revisited/rewritten content. If Merchant Marines stipulated positioning bins, generative
AI, deepfake technology, must not replace typography. Sometimes, discerning wherefor
Xs and Os are less mindful than printing presses, hand copying’s sidled over wonkiness.
Only ethereal persons walk through walls when being pursued. Yet, adroit diagnoses
Prevent no car wrecks. Also, girls getting rich repeatedly vending virginity, normally
Undergo hymen restoration surgeries. Weigh, worse that rotationplasty is the anagen
Phase of hoped-for recovery. “Silent No More” crusades can’t treat cancer, dissuade
Some families from gifting durian portions unless they’ve debated the relative value
Of cowpeas, plus japes, or forgotten to feed foxes foods full of taurine. Additionally,
Underwater drones exterminate starfish, but Monsanto retains scores of food brands,
None of which formulate sygalon tree root epilepsy medicine, countersign all incels.
Certain mortals have endured roll call at Fort Yellowknife, escaped to Niihau, recorded
Mt. Rushmore’s secret room, whistled when hiking the Carnic Alps, ridden on Belgian
Brabants, maybe Akhal-Tekes, hitchhiked Dalton Highway’s length, encamped in Slab
City, vacationed in Andorra, or visited pene-enclaves like Point Roberts. Speech’s able
To be simulated after brain signals. Switzerland’s approved precise “assisted suicides.”
Models’ pay, their trials and tribulations outweigh medical scribes’. Curved escalators
Exist. Homicides are committed daily employing freshly dead, silver-striped Blaasops.
Nonelectric, portable washing machines could dominate autophagy, rampage, & so on.
