Kelli Allen

Bedroom Mythology

It isn't bearable,

the drawer

opening into another

drawer.

The ritual

of looking,

all transparency--

echoing cauldrons

emptied

of what?  Gunfire

heard under a bed

and we could sail over

every surface

of dissolution

or even beginning,

but my declarations

are shifting,

so instead

I jump.

Blackjack

When you came,

I was already a split

stalk.  A clear critic

against the coming

quarrel would warn

my inevitable flinch

is perhaps an affirmation.

However, much like hesitant

zodiac heeding, I believe

only what you offer

as testimony in the fiery

designs of this diary--

A salary kept useless

by a single bamboo pin.

I carry zinc in the pocket

of your skirt to coat

my fingers when they slip,

galvanized into a proper name.

Kelli Allen is a poet, editor, and scholar. Her work has appeared in many international journals and several anthologies. Allen is the author of two chapbooks. She holds an MFA in poetry and currently teaches literature and creative writing in the St. Louis area.