Eaton Fire
When smoke burned our throats,
we took to the desert for its sweet air.
Winter was early for jasmine
but the search-and-rescue ranger
told us, around these parts, February is spring.
I knew my children’s school burned down
but my brain couldn’t hold it.
It understood how to roll solitaire marbles,
squint at cholla, consider the dogs next door,
scroll Redfin, lose myself in a hike (finally/at last/thank god).
I wished some wise person could advise me——
can I ever forgive them for what they didn’t say;
can I drive every or any burned road with my child;
how do I bear this (it’s too much, oh my god);
etc., etc., but I had only me.
Gun Cosplay
Pity the men who dress up
like other men they admire,
guns aloft: grandmothers
cradling their firstborn’s son.
Other men they admire
trigger-polish an AR-15,
cradle it like a spotted fawn,
oil it like a lover’s freckled back.
(Unsure? Google, how to trigger-polish an AR-15,
keep clean the parts: barrel, chamber.
Oil it like a lover’s freckled back,
set it gently in its display rack.
Keep clean the heart, acquire a truck
with wheels so big you’ll feel very strong.
Then put your symbols on display,
RPMs spinning for freedom.)
Wheels so big he finally feels strong——
his truck a weapon, his weapons not stored,
RPMs raging. Freedom?
Pity the men who dress up.
Making Plans to Have Coffee in LA
Could we reschedule, she said
I think she meant: I woke up
with a desire to be eaten out
which she called a migraine.
I think she meant: I woke up
hopelessly stuck in this life
which she called a migraine.
She had a habit, becoming
hopelessly stuck. In this life,
she stared into the middle distance.
She had a habit, becoming
someone who was trusting.
She stared into the middle distance,
desired obliteration, Venti anything,
someone who was trusting.
She lolled in her unmade bed.
She stared into the middle distance
with a desire to be eaten out,
to be someone who was obliterated.
Could we reschedule, she said.
Rebecca Maker lives in Southern California. She is published in Poet Lore and is a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee and a 2024 Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference participant. Her favorite revenge TV show is The Sopranos.
