“Kerosene”

By Thomas Page

I am student teaching a senior level class in Washington, DC. They have to write some poems on these prompts. I decided to try all 30 of them. However, I will not say what the prompt was but what it number was.

Prompt #3

Oceanography

I’d suppose that you would like to have an answer of some kind.

Like the ocean, I don’t.

I wish I did know more about the ocean so I could answer you.

Like the ocean, I don’t.

I don’t why I have the connection to blue

That is as rich as the tides at sunrise.

Are there perennials in the ocean?

Because I don’t know.

 

Nuclear

I’d supposed you would like to know the details

Like a reaction of some kind.

I wish I did better on my bio tests so I could explain it to you

Like a reaction of some kind.

I don’t know why I have the connection to gray

That is bold as an explosion.

Does the circus come to town?

Because I like a reaction.

 

Exoskeleton

I’d suppose you want a reason

Like the bones coming together

But I really can’t tell you because

Like the bones coming together.

I don’t know why I have the connection to black

That is evocative of a season.

Do you think that it all fuses?

Like the bones coming together.

 

Like the kerosene fading in a camp light,

I feel it in my stomach whenever I see you.

It seems to be like an abandoned toilet

In a Texaco in summertime.