No Tomatoes
Rainfall and I am outside
in rain with rain as rain
apologies to everyone
to myself with wet hands
thank what air to look like that
I grow and comb my hair today.
Thinking of You
If you could run down to the corner store
for a pound of hamburger
don’t wear green socks,
makes your ankles look like small lawns
with only room for one chair
a small table that holds the entire point of a moment
that sits and drinks iced tea outside or if this is winter
constant hot tea helps
or let’s face it, coffee is the strong answer
to the start of any day, the list continues,
late at night in a room when it’s too dark to sleep
might as well wake up
besides the electricity is being turned off today
they told me why
and you’ve returned with hamburger
but I’ve become a vegetarian
just in the time you were at the store
so take it, it’s for you.
-
Carol Ellis was born in Detroit, Michigan and lives in Portland, Oregon. She’s been around the academic block with her Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa. She is the author of two chapbooks: HELLO (Two Plum Press, forthcoming 2018), and I Want A Job (Finishing Line Press, 2014). Her poems and essays are or will be published in anthologies and journals including ZYZZYVA, Comstock Review, The Cincinnati Review, Saranac Review, and Cider Press Review. In 2015 she spent time in Cuba writing a book and giving readings.