Suggestion

Everything is maleable.

I thought I hallucinated

That a stick was a severed animal limb,

But apparently I hallucinated an animal limb

Was a stick.

 

We walked your dog and I was aware of the clouds.

My peripheral vision encompassed them more clearly

Than what was ahead of me.

The thought ran through my head that the sky flooded,

That it was entirely too damp above and might rain.

 

You saw what was ahead.

I almost fell over you, you stopped so quickly.

“Is that a leg?”

 

“What?”

“That thing in the grass.

Oh my God, I think it’s something’s leg!”

 

I walked around the other side of it.

I saw a hoof and nearly panicked.

 

I looked closer and the hoof seemed an illusion.

I began to see bark on it.

 

“I think it’s a stick,

It’s too dark to really see, though.”

You let Alaska pull you by her leash,

And gladly exited.

 

I decided it was a leg and then changed my mind.

I decided to kick it.

Just as my foot began to swing it was a leg again,

But it was light and clattered in the street.

 

That’s definitely a stick.

 

I caught up with you and got tangled in the leash.

It seemed like a whipping vine

As it slid from its roller and wrapped my legs.

 

When we got back to the apartment,

The sky was glowing.

The city’s reflection was fading in the clouds.

You let Alaska in and we lit cigarettes.

We sat together on the curb.

You seemed shaken up.

 

“What the hell was that thing?”

 

“Huh? Oh yeah.

I already forgot about that.

It was a stick.”

 

“It looked like a leg.”

“I kicked it and it made stick noises.”

 

“Whatever you say.”

 

The clouds dissipated slightly.

Colors changed.

You pointed this out to me.

 

You said the sky was red and my sky turned red.

You said the tree down the street looked aquatic,

And then its limbs were beating flagella,

 

As if they were anemones

As if we were underwater.

 

Reviews

[rain]

Interesting word choice. I really like the word choice--complex mind.
-rain