An Uphill Espresso Machine
by Benjamin Morgan

Bright red bombs in the
garden, pulling down
trip wires
On blades thick with
harsh dew

I'm wearing two pairs of socks
It's January
Waiting for you to wake up
In love
I tell the lawn chair
Pink, that you sit in

Paper weather men
describe systems to me
my eyes like ears
like morning

Who
the Sun
I answer defiantly
over again
Parroting metaphors for
base energy
but

my wheels turn too fast
you come around
to stop the
spokes for a second

Thanks Dr. Hurlow!

This is the first poem written after I started reading The Best American Poetry 2000.

A Small Town (Devil's Dogs) by Benjamin Morgan

What about the girl who stood
on the precipice
Her dress whipping in the wind
and the wolves
They tore her to blood-red pieces
on the daisies
The old farmer saw this and
it filled him with remorse
The townspeople were not ready for a trial
They loosed him
The farmer, on wolves with human weapons
Killing beautifully
The painted red forest poked its head up
became legend
And OH GOD the feeling of alarm
in my heart
In my head, the brilliant sirens darkening
bringing hell
To all the little people who hired the wolves
To destroy the girl
Purity is oh too hard to bear
to lift up
Tiring of complimenting her songs and candor
They killed
The glorious resolution bathed in no regret
like this regret
Until the whole town is taken by wolves
To silence each other
But the farmer wanders further down the highway
to plant more towns