EVERYTHING

I tried to pretend
I heard everything
and nodded my head
repeatedly
obsequiously
and like a chameleon
my color changed back
to its original
vantage point green



TO CHIMPANZEE

to chimpanzee
these little thoughts
is all it takes
lucky me



HE SAID I WAS UNABLE

he said I was unable
to tell a good story of my past
that the memories were
stuck in the cold and old
regions of the brain
and that was how it went
until we opened a place



____
Dave Barrett lives in Wisconsin. His debut collection, SOMEBODY PLEASE, is forthcoming March 27 from Blue Arrangements.