Shunting the straw
was a girl dressed all in blue.
She wore her hair long
cum long befoe c.
She knew then the way then was
what the sinister
knew was wrong.
She knew it was wrong to hang
he knew that it was wrong
to bury his face.
So he buried his face in
the long hair. And he knew
her then as his dear.
Saddle
Saddle Saddle
up. We did saddle
like fifes. Long neck
and brief thighs hook
and then hook again—
the stray dirt darting
before the break—
Spirit fleeing sick
Stallion—straight beneath his ankles
His sweaty ankles, rook-like
and sallow. Saddles long white
bow and curve at the spine
the sheer numbers—still
reproachful at the lips
and supine, gasp for air.
The spine so saddled.
Caitif
My caitif came
toward the house.
My caitif came like a jug to the door.
There is a ball in his mouth.
There is also a calf in the grass
and its legs stick out
wildly. A caitif too.
Creep through and break—
with grass all
captivating. Grass breaking
on the dirt range
through the influence of light.
Heat strung along like a caitif
comes to the door of the fence
on the grass. Perks up the ears
steals toward sealed slats.
Mouth sealed. With a saddle
up on the spine. A saddle cum saddle.
Deer
In the imagistic winter
In the winter is despair
In the pressure
In the imagistic pressure
In the form of deer
The form of deer running
Badly
In the figure of deer we see
Running mediocrity.
“The odd unlovely souls”
grimace bashful the paper flewn
twirling light dangling the tight
evening string—
Gusts winds
blw
the night, guarded
soul, wind
is here, tremor
bewilder
—struck flayed in the wilderness.
Glass heart,
dear lvly
the gas heart rosaceous fresh
limned by the trees the hush
sky grows rose—
Love love—real
Lost aloe
stolen heart
daffodille petal
is yellow
the sky fælls awey
Katy Lederer: poems have recently appeared in The Kenyon Review, The American Poetry Review, The Recluse, and The Boston Review. I had a book out in 2017 with Atelos Press with another on the way this year on Solid Objects. I often write about climate change for print and online magazines.