A limp, grimacing
life-like, Halloween
mask removed for
picture taking purposes
the boy’s face unmarked,
expressionless,
framed against
the stained
plaster dusted wall
the gouger
& the gouged
Alan Catlin has two full length books of poetry published in 2025: Landscapes of the Exiled (Dos Madres) and Unattended, a long poem in section about death in a hotel in NYC (Cyberwit). Forthcoming Work Anxiety Poems from Roadside Press.
