Shantih Journal | Page 30

Under the Locust Tree

by Glen Armstrong

To her, the stuff inside a stone

was bigger than the stone itself.

She somtimes napped in a hammock

under the locust tree.

To her, each named thing

whether dreamed or held in the hand

suffered its own unique phantom limb.

Here and elsewhere were relative.

On another street where love and chance

canceled each other out.

And another, where fractures in the glass

eyes of baby dolls

saddened her more for their old-timey pull

than their damage,

more for their somewhere

than their here among the spider lilies.

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