TPQ OnLine
poetry by Michael Neff



Bowling

How predictable that lot stripes
Retreat so soon, a spoken invitation
That phosphoresces as dusk begins
Without which the unspoken lack departs,
A mob of wood like duckpins at the start
Of a short brink. How can it matter?
Cannot a we're-so-much-alike be
Ignored in the perspiration glass
Of a Tamer Lane Moosehead
And also bring down the house?

Avoiding all manner of people and arson
Left behind the drab of the particular fool.
No one told of the unceremonious
Leavings and droppings
After the issue was broached
And it ascends, like their alcohol proof
Of grin, or the timid feathers of
Mallard, or Canadian Ring-Neck geese
Honking in need of birth.

Copyright © 1999 by Michael Neff

Michael Neff is the founder and editor of the online literary site Web Del Sol. His work has appeared in numerous magazines including American Way (First Annual Faux Faulkner Contest), North American Review, and upcoming in Quarterly West; and online at Octavo, Poetry Cafe, and Hallux. Michael can be contacted at solneffmike@mindspring.com.

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