agile ditchwater nymphs caught in a Schlitz can,
a hundred or more at least:
he poured them, algae and all, to fend in a jar,
to await the promise of their kind.
he planned to let them loose on the grass:
to stage a plague as exodus
what did the boy know when he
carried those creatures home?
how could he know life would grapple with life,
within its curvature of doom?
or what that struggle would demand as,
by fractions, tails absorb and legs extend,
reaching for breath in a world slowly soured by death,
until muck returns to muck and not even his promise remains?
Will Reger is a founding member of the CU (Champaign-Urbana) Poetry Group (cupoetry.com), has a Ph.D. from UIUC, teaches at Illinois State University in Normal, and has published most recently with Front Porch Review, Chiron Review, Paterson Literary Review, Blue Nib, Broadkill Review, Innisfree Poetry Journal, Zingara Poetry Review and others. His first chapbook is Cruel with Eagles. He is on Twitter @wmreger.
Appears In
Cagibi Issue 5
