Dan Sicoli

derivatives of the colloquial star

even the storm-worn machismo

feeds in the sweat mud

this encounter paired

with situation lightning

gives off sound

and challenges flight

flexing instinct

what remains of breath

caresses sky

and silences us

it pours elephants and pianos

a grave of waves

distills today

backslaps and

puckering lips

another cosmetic makeover

in the dressing room

of cosmic lies

a chicken gives orders with enchanted eyes

the village is a circle for the saints of science: the flowers of january melt: psi is a wire mesh: and the gears of a sauna are a song with two bass lines: a boy scout called it love: my guide pushes a crescent angel: rare epithets quarantine separators: morphine love is a story in two words: madness is another sap in waiting: removing hard water implants awaken like whispers: chickens give orders and offer judges enchanted eyes: coffee heals like a monument: camels eat: only a tea servant could want this: clouds are a promise stranded in mom: don't bet on pulsars: no in in in in in in in in in in in in in in waiting questions.

Dan Sicoli an editor with Slipstream, will have a new collection, Slag Alley, forthcoming from Ethel Zine Press. A three-time Pushcart nominee, he's placed poems with Big Windows Review, dadakuku, Hobo Camp Review, Home Planet News, Hood of Bone, Steam Ticket, and Santa Barbara Literary Journal, among many others.