I weep at cartoons.
Wile E. Coyote free-falling from a cliff,
Sylvester flattened by an iron safe,
scads of sodden Kleenex at my side.
I put my name on a wait list for mercy
(a light-year long).
I murmur worn mantras,
send prayers to made-up saints:
Saint Jackson of bankruptcy,
Saint Sophia of clogged toilets,
Saint Lester of shapeless days
& tedious tomorrows.
Someone else dreams my dreams at night.
I toss on sweat-stained sheets.
Am I missing the point
or was it never there?
A diver yanks a rope,
a wrestler taps out,
I tip over my King.
Checkmate.
Claire Scott is an award-winning poet who has received multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her work has been accepted by the Atlanta Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Enizagam and Healing Muse among others. Claire is the author of Waiting to be Called and the co-author of Unfolding in Light: A Sisters’ Journey in Photography and Poetry.