1- Genesis
In the labyrinth high school hallways, love
Was solemn as the next likely heartbeat

Hand-holding, no air-space between fingers
Entwined. Soft quick-kiss promises unheard.

Above slamming lockers, just the sureness of
Look-to-look, your hand leisured on my hip

A moment before the bell pealed, dared pry
Us apart. A dash toward classroom doors where

Our worlds rushed forward into prime numbers
The War of the Roses, a preface to Baudelaire

Each breath, the scent of us, thick in our hair,
The clock ticked on like a bomb in the garden.


2- From the Bird-Seat View of Warfare

Here God directed the black feather clan
To depart their high roosts, caw out, gather
The ghosts of innocents' discontentment

In these leafless seasons, nature sketches
In charcoals where the judiciary of crows
Weigh out on the life tree, all lost judgments.

In cold fixed stares, birds assemble upon
Barren limbs, compel the bootless pariahs
From camouflage- Mourners bring keepsakes,

Evidence of crime -- baskets heaped with legs,
Bullets veined by blood, unsent notes to sons.
Children's stricken faces crowd blue-less sky.



Shayla Mollohan