“I have bruises too, a smattering, and I know
it doesn’t make sense”

“I have bruises too, a smattering, and I know
it doesn’t make sense”
by Laura Reece Hogan The time of April ticks onward outside, on the hills, in the chaparral,under sagebrush, an awakening from the ashes and the barren ache. The swallows return,…
I dreamt my old boss into being.
Twenty years invisible, & here she came,
her unimpassioned face, stone jaw,
tone flat as if mediating some dispute.
by Laura Reese Hogan Her swollen hands red in peeling service, dutifully broomingthe floor beneath his feet, beneath his spitting, his foul words, yellowed eyes, beneath his stench and snaking…
Skull well-bruised and numb,
near delirium
I choke and praise the Lord.
“The boy with his shattered skull stitched
runs his fingers over the bridge
Van Gogh’s rainbow impasto arcs…”
“it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear
just sing and knead and roll and press
my purple pleasure”