a perfect message

Michael Rerick

———–a perfect message
in poplar bark bands
code a tap tap tap blackout
———–a perfect cover up
———–taped in leaves tap
polar winds trapped
———–in tree colors
or a sky cassette playing
limbs gagged and shivering
nicely perfectly carved
———–initials tap tap tap
inscribe a future paper
we read as pulp policy
the loving tap tap tap awry
———–mistaken as a pillow
———–perfect as a cake
or an appropriate alarm
to quickly smother the pith
———–with exposure coats
collected in black bands
to tap tap tap potential positions
in the wrong waiting camp
ritual carving expenditures
———–sigh kindling burning
to stencil the green landscape
a belching palimpsest of brush
———————————we hear
oaks tap tap tap their pillars
———–and know it’s perfect

© Michael Rerick

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Michael Rerick lives and teaches in Portland, Oregon. Work recently appears or is forthcoming at Futures Trading, MadHat, Marsh Hawk Review, Ping Pong, Switchback, Tarpaulin Sky, and Zoomoozophone. He is also the author of In Ways Impossible to Fold, morefrom, The Kingdom of Blizzards, and X-Ray.