In Complete Darkness
by Kenneth Pobo

In high school Dulcet Tones
dawdled in a swamp, 
saw a log in water, 
and just as his leg almost 
landed on it, the gator 
swam away. Just this week 
he crossed train tracks 
and didn’t hear the train 
coming. He made it, 
barely. His mom told him 
to pay attention. He does.  
To the many houses 
he sees in the eye 
of a violet. To genies 
that fly out from 
garage windows.    

He’s like the moon-- 
while focusing on 
a still pond, the killer
gets away 
in complete darkness.  

Upsetting a Stone
by Kenneth Pobo

This stone I step on watches me 
head to the garden. I’m in 
a hurry—our blue and white columbine 
may have just opened. I rarely hurry 
at work. A memo chases me, 
but I’m languid as a sleeping fish.  

The stone is average. It could be 
any stone. Beauty 
in anonymity. It calls out, 
wants to know why I stepped on it.  

I go back, pick it up, 
place it on top of the propane tank.  
It will get good sun.  
And bloom
in a way that only a stone can.  

---

Kenneth Pobo is the author of twenty-one chapbooks and nine full-length collections.  Recent books include Bend of Quiet (Blue Light Press), Loplop in a Red City (Circling Rivers), and Uneven Steven (Assure Press). Opening is forthcoming from Rectos Y Versos Editions. Lavender Fire, Lavender Rose is forthcoming from Brick/House Books.