Poetry

November 8, 2018 Poetry , POETRY / FICTION

Reuters photo

By

Tin Cans and Armor

That small space between dawn and day.

The cover of invincibility as you pull down

under the blanket and listen. Listen as the dump truck

creaks into the alley behind your apartment. Hums,

hisses, and clanks as it gobbles up your garbage.

Old newspapers, bills, food scraps and takeout boxes

of moldy Ma Po tofu. Once satiated the monster drops

the can onto the cracked pavement. Ambles off to the

next building. Your feet are cold, and the covers call

to keep you. A protective shell from all the garbage

slung at you as you move through your day. Female,

in a big city, fighting battles that should have been

decided during Granny’s lifetime. The boiler kicks

in and heat thick with decay and ages long passed fill

your home. Roll you out of bed as you warrior a new day.

Carol Parris Krauss is a mother, educator, and poet from the Tidewater region of Virginia. She was recently recognized as one of the 2018 Best New Poets by the University of Virginia Press. Her work can be found at Story South, The SC Review, Poetry 24, New Verse News, the Amsterdam Quarterly, and other online and print venues.