Clearing

I cut down           the suspicions

                            the dead plants

the window         of my expectations & watch

the insect paths  receive the coverage

                            deserving of microcosms

my glass plates   of slides

the dawns           in cosms—

                            precious &un-

                            recognizable/delightful

in the plasm        of the blood kiss settled

the soup              of the heavy roads

                            we have drawn out

the garden          of wheels & reverb—

in a book of compensation

& money hopes                 set to pop music

hear the sounds  of a vibrating

jilted lover           exchanging         lacerations

& mirrors             flushing against

              drifting collars   walking down   noisy streets

I’ve dreamt        about poetry      discussions

w/ a favorite rapper         escorting us

             to brunch w/        professors & daemons

                           in a death match

It was a great     menu

                            but we never      actually saw it

it’s just speculation

                                           I watch faces

                                          who still look

                                          human & they are prone

to mistakes/ familiar failures

outcomes & the nets that provide

distinction—

Adam Stutz is the the co-curator of the Non-Standard Lit Reading Series with Mark Wallace and Jeanine Webb. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Equalizer: Second Series, White Stag, The Cultural Society, A Sharp Piece of Awesome, Prelude, Be About It, Deluge, Dum Dum Zine, The Pinch, and Where is the River. He is the author of the chapbook Transcript (Cooper Dillon Books, 2017) and The Scales (White Stag Publishing, 2018). He currently resides in San Diego, CA.