Blank Slate
for Eric Lorberer
A poem confronts itself.
Why am I being written
In this busy gallery laden
With scattergun gaiety, soon-
To-be forgotten gossip,
No matter the frozen veins
Outside – ah, who is to know?
In ten weeks, a change of seasons.
For now, a sibyl of fear rises,
The raw wind a serrated knife.
James Naiden’s third novel, The Chafings of Mortals, was published in 2011. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a regular reviewer for IS&T.