What We Do When the Power Comes Back On

Empty the freezer of meats in foil,
many from lost origins. Have we eaten lion?
Does the black bear howl with regret?
What of the skunk & the serpent?
Some will be beef & venison—
we won’t unravel their shrouds.
More than flesh, this mustard expired
a decade ago, & do you remember
buying chocolate-covered bees?
A jar of pigs’ eyes has stared at guests
for years until your friends refused to look.

Ace Boggess
Ace Boggess
Ace Boggess is author of six books of poetry, most recently Escape Envy. His writing has appeared in Indiana Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Notre Dame Review, Harvard Review, and other journals. An ex-con, he lives in Charleston, West Virginia, where he writes and tries to stay out of trouble. His seventh collection, Tell Us How to Live, is forthcoming in 2024 from Fernwood Press.

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