In the alley behind
an abandoned Kroger
boys scrawl sentiments
on the graffitied wall
Broom sage and cactus
poke through
broken cement
and oil-stained gravel
Shattered plastics
glitter like agates
discarded condoms
lie like snakeskins
crumpled wrappers
blow like tumbleweed
Boys grow prickly
as devil’s cane
Ann Howells edited Illya’s Honey for eighteen years. Recent books: So Long As We Speak Their Names (Kelsay Books) and Painting the Pinwheel Sky (Assure Press). Chapbooks Black Crow in Flight and Softly Beating Wings were published through contests. Ann’s work appears in Nimrod, Magma, and Crannog, among others.
