Clementines by Brian Le Lay

Books fell, pushing

the mason jar off the shelf, handle

no longer intact

curved chunks

of glass & tiny, glittering

fragments, clementine peels

& seeds left washing

in the sun, hardening

in an afternoon, tottering under the stove.

I swept them up

while you were away

stacked

the books in crooked watchtowers

on the floor around me, once

slanted creaking hardwood planks, now it's thin

brown carpet concealing cement.

---

Brian Le Lay likes to fiddle with language and find the funny. His poems have appeared in places like Drunk Monkeys, VAYAVYA, and Peach Mag.