Seven Suns Story

The following is a previously unpublished “story” following in the vein of my poems from the book Seven Suns / Seven Moons, written with Tanya McDonald (NeoPoiesis Press, 2016). Perhaps this narrative is closer to a haiku sequence, or just a poetry sequence, but the distinction doesn’t matter to me. I first wrote this in April 2009 at the Field’s End Writers’ Conference in Kingston, Washington, where I was also a featured presenter. See also “Before Seven Suns / Seven Moons and “Courting the Eyeball Kick: A Short History of Suns and Moons.”

seven suns

the juvie picks up

the glove on the pavement

seven suns

his glance down the street

into the sunset

seven suns

he tries the glove on

for size

seven suns

a label at the hem

identifies the owner

seven suns

the juvie on the bus

thinks of his father

seven suns

the locked gate

at the juvie center

seven suns

the plane crashes

through the playground

seven suns

the wail of ambulances

losing their way

seven suns

the juvie pulls a man

out of the fire

seven suns

the plane wreck quiet

at the breaking of dawn

seven suns

the boy at the hospital

with the man he helped

seven suns

the juvie hesitates

when asked to state his name

seven suns

the waiting room magazines

all for adults

seven suns

the doctor who strides

out of the E.R.

seven suns

the boy looks out the window

at a black gardener

seven suns

on the bus home

tears on his sleeve

seven suns

his forehead feels

the chill of the day

seven suns

missing his stop

he keeps riding anyway

seven suns

the megamall

open late

seven suns

he decides today

not to shoplift

seven suns

the juvie fingers

the glove in his pocket

seven suns

blue eggs in the nest

he finds on the sidewalk

seven suns

the dust of twigs and leaves

on his fingers

seven suns

news cameras

crowd the shelter

seven suns

the new cook’s

mac and cheese

seven suns

a piece of crumpled paper

under a dining room chair

seven suns

the orphan boy

times his pulse

seven suns

the boy asks for help

with his missed homework

seven suns

yellow caution tape

caught in a tree

seven suns

he gets up again

for a glass of water

seven suns

that repeated dream

of finding his father

seven suns

his stolen bicycle

back in its place

seven suns

another glove

found in the brambles

seven suns

baseball scores

on the radio

seven suns

the light somehow

seems brighter