Two poems by Kenneth P. Gurney

Surplus Season

Ravens live complementary 
to the highway.

The roadkill the highway adds
to the asphalt, the ravens
subtract through ingestion.

Their relationship is not perfect,
in balance, zero sum.




Four Degrees

The ache my heart feels
maps itself in the darkness
as a dying star
falls from the heavens.

The echo of that ache
burns like a half hour 
too long under the southwest sun.

The shadow of that ache
exists without words
painted in the twitch
my limbic system
pushes through my cerebellum  
into my left wrist.

The demonstration of that ache
displays itself 
in the raised white skin
of fifteen parallel lines
cut across my right thigh.


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 Bio: Kenneth P. Gurney lives in Albuquerque, NM, USA with his beloved Dianne.  His latest collection of poems is Stump Speech.  His website is kpgurney.me.

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