epigraph
a maggoty
rabbit
disemboweled
on His lawn.
a warning
to others——do not
linger at dawn.
retribution
death coach come to
carry away
there’s devilry this
night
from the bog
an eerie sound, brackish
in the light
a form
ghoulish with desire
for stern aggro
against
the ones who
drowned it in the mire
comeuppance
Dad’s axe was slightly rusty,
slightly bloody,
but it did the job——
a household
hamstrung
with pungent fear
of what was not allowed.
He’d pose
with it from time
to time——a threat
of what
was yet to come,
but
He never got
the chance to do us in.
one night
while stinking drunk
He passed out in His easy chair
so we dragged Him to the
backyard;
tied Him to a tree
and left Him there.
He yelled for hours
when He awoke,
yet the nearest neighbor——
miles away…
wild dogs
heard the sound
and from the forest
came to meet their Prey.
Craig J Calhoun is an artist who was born in 1971. He has a BFA in Metal from S.U.N.Y. New Paltz (1994) and an MFA in Fiber from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago (1998). Craig self-published his debut poetry chapbook “agnostic” in 2025. He currently lives in Chicago, IL. His favorite feud is between David Gilmour and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. Website: craigcalhoun.com
