flashlight off the shelf
through the woods
inside the cave
spotlight under chin
warps
twists
distorts
disturbs
snaps back
submitted
for your consideration
shut your eyes
for wishes errant
for frame shifters
for deep-dished what if
what next
what now
just who are the people you nod
your hellos to
I’m Talking Tina
and I’m going to kill you
how thin the line
between real and mind
how thin the plug
that drains clarity
the shell around brutality
the answer why
the memory of Earth
the cool hand
to brush
over tired eyes
find the zipper
in the gremlin’s suit
without our masks
we are caricatures
cannonaded by lies
shelled by insecurity
straddled by humiliation
targeted by isolation
blown clean apart
living in dead run
no salvation signpost
up ahead
clocks
made by earthlings
something else
Rikki Santer’s poetry has received many honors including five Pushcart and three Ohioana book award nominations as well as a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities.Her next, full-length collection, How to Board a Moving Ship, is forthcoming from Lily Poetry Review Books. Please contact her through her website: www.rikkisanter.com