So Various

1

We walked out to pasture

to feed the pigs, the neighbors’

dog running beside us, shitting

beside us. The clouds were a quilt

of calcite-colored gloom, our field

a carpet of sod turned over by hooves.

2

We sat as the chipmunks called

to each other, ass down in a sea

of tumbled stones. Selenite stacked

like logs, geode after geode

to the wind, our pockets brimmed

with the weight of colored stones.

3

Inside the restaurant painted

the colors of wasabi and ginger, we ate

wasabi and ginger. 80s hits screamed

eternity from speaks all around, even

in the bathroom. A plate of shrimp shumai

like pillows for a clique of mice.

4

We weren’t badly dressed

for the party, but we weren’t

dressed correctly, either. Grown men

in a palette of pastels, ladies drunk

beneath their brims, and the shining

horses racing towards their deaths.