Tales for Children
by Joshua Gage
late snow
on her glass coffin
apple blossoms
the oven’s warmth
a chicken bone snuck
between cage bars
the nettle's sting
overhead, a perfect V
of seven geese
the canopy's rustle
thorns through the spokes
of her spinning wheel
a heart of tin
in the morning coals
broken music box
foam on the waves
with every step, knifes
pierce her feet
wilted roses
musty steam
off his fur
Joshua Gage recently received his MFA from Naropa University in the Low-Residency Creative Writing program. His chapbook is available from Deep Cleveland Press. He stomps around Cleveland in a purple bathrobe, attending poetry readings and trying to sell his chapbook. While he appreciates the kumquat for its name and the prickly pear sweetness, his favorite fruit would have to be any variety of capsicum, especially habeneros.
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