The Cost of Shadows


Even when we're not there
we leave lights on
like burning suns in space
because darkness
would dominate
better to fend off
mysteries
of Rembrandt shadows
and keep safe
with shinning sentries
until your father says
to an empty room
"what are we made of...money?!"
and flips the switch.





Yellow Bubble Mailer
 

Business yellow skin
lined with bubble guts 
on an international mission
of commerce to a customer in Berlin.

Special one-time emissary
proudly appended with postage and customs clearances
tossed on a belt
and dropped into a dark hold

Carried eastbound on a night time flight
arcing over the North Atlantic
intended for Deutsche Post's afternoon delivery
for a reader on Karl Krugger Street

Somewhere between here and there
an interception
yellow skin sliced length wise,
and contents emptied like a sturgeon gutted for roe

Months later
disgraced by pink and green stamps
a soiled yellow husk is returned
with a final message like a joke in bad taste

Received without Contents
​