Mrs. Panterluck says she doesn’t know
why she keeps dis-
appearing. One minute she’s
in a mall walking over
to a perfume kiosk and the next
she’s gone. It’s like she misplaces
her skin. Wherever she is,
she retains a brain, though
Mr. Panterluck often refers to her
as brainless while watching
his fifth game show of the day.
It’s strange to be disembodied,
hard enough getting someone
to help even when fully visible.
Still, it does make you better friends
with wind, also invisible,
but powerful too. Mrs. Panterluck
sees herself as a stoplight–
on, off,
on again. Three colors
that keep disappearing.
Kenneth Pobo is the author of twenty-one chapbooks and nine full-length collections. Recent books include Bend of Quiet (Blue Light Press), Loplop in a Red City (Circling Rivers), Lilac And Sawdust(Meadowlark Press), and Lavender Fire, Lavender Rose (BrickHouse Books). Opening is forthcoming from Rectos Y Versos Editions.