Snails & Clouds
if i had any kind of peace at all
i would luxuriate in poems that reveal nothing
pretty poems
poems like sixteen year old baptist virgins
poems that take no risks
if my ass wasn’t always on the line
my heart the biggest gaudiest target on the shooting range
i would write lines that don’t creak and groan
lines that smell like freshly washed and powdered babies
lines that kiss your toes to sleep
like a security blanket
toasty from the dryer
there are plenty of poems about snails & clouds
meadows & bluebirds
not nearly enough poems about my vivid pregnancy dreams
waking up wishing for a new life
or at the very least
a day at the ocean
with money enough for a soda and a hot dog
i will leave the placid observation poems
and the animal poems
and the majestic mountain poems
to the poets who can afford them
meanwhile i write my life like an instruction manual
this is what has not worked for me, kids
don’t
try
this
at
home
Misti Rainwater-Lites writes a lot of poems and the occasional novel. Her poems have appeared online and in print in various zines, including St. Vitus Press, Zen Baby, Zygote in my Coffee, Cherry Bleeds, Yellow Mama, remark, Poesy, Words Dance and Nerve House. Misti lives in Albuquerque with her husband.
