By Kenneth Pobo

I should open  
the window  
in a rainstorm,   
but I worry about  
warped surfaces.   
Maybe I’m  
a warped surface. 

I begin each day   
the same way—   
feed the cats, pour coffee,  
put on a CD.  Then I’m  
ready for work where  
my boss considers me  
a solved equation.   
I don’t feel solved.   

Am a train about  
to lose its cars,  
yet I make the curve  
almost.     


  
The Reason for Japan by Ernest Williamson III

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kenneth Pobo (he/him) is the author of twenty-one chapbooks and nine full-length collections. Recent books include Bend of Quiet (Blue Light Press), Loplop in a Red City (Circling Rivers), and Lilac And Sawdust (Meadowlark Press) and Gold Bracelet in a Cave: Aunt Stokesia (Ethel Press). His work has appeared in North Dakota Quarterly, Asheville Literary Review, Nimrod, Mudfish, Hawaii Review, and elsewhere.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Dr. Ernest Williamson III has published creative work in over 600 journals. Williamson has published poetry in over 200 journals, including The Oklahoma Review, The Roanoke Review, Pamplemousse, formerly known as The Gihon River Review, The Copperfield Review, The Penwood Review, and Wilderness House Literary Review. Some of his visual artwork has appeared in journals such as Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, The William & Mary Review, New England Review, The Tulane Review and The Wisconsin Review. Williamson has an M.A. from the University of Memphis and a Ph.D. from Seton Hall University. He lives in Nashville. Learn more here: www.ernestwilliamsoniii.com

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