I lost you before I lost you. your stickmen were free of anxiety. they left a church to the potbellied ghost of your muscle. their word for tree was branch. what god couldn’t finish they called wind. baby an air that stopped breathing.
drunk above a son I cannot feed, I don’t long to swim
but do
to have my mother’s hair
combed
by a horse-
birth
oh when
was I tamed
a brother sleepwalks and beats his sister. daylight, brother looks for her abuser but can’t stay awake long enough to catch the person he doesn’t know he is. sister fears what he may become. I have two children, Object and Permanence. they examine my spotless body
like aliens
who cannot hurt their own but want to.
–
boy has no name
so town
has no name
–
when my younger brother was born, his program made him human. because of this, my mother was thrown in jail. my own program gives me the power to look like anyone I’ve seen. I need you to write down what you look like because it’s me to the rescue.
–
her hand is a ray gun that can only stun babies not yet born. her grief is a time machine that wants to grow old.
–
as they had no memories of being children, mom pretended she had been their mother and told them stories of the funny ways they’d been in trouble.
the below listed publications are not available publicly, and can be purchased via paypal (bartsmock@gmail.com) or https://www.paypal.me/BartonSmock
chapbook, BASILISK, 64 pages $5.00
(Feb 2017)
chapbook, the accepted field, 84 pages $5.00
(May 2017)
chapbook, in this life another is you, 64 pages $3.00
(Oct 2017)
full length collection, so sang, 202 pages $8.00
(Oct 2017)
through the end of October, all monies I receive for these, or for any of my publicly available collections, will be sent to a poet friend of mine who was injured while clearing debris for others after Hurricane Irma.
currently, Lulu is offering 15% off all print books with coupon code of LULU15
author spotlight on lulu:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/acolyteroad
all book previews on site are the viewed book in its entirety. will send free PDFs per request. also, all titles will be sent free in hard copy to those interested in writing a review. inquire, request, here: bartonsmock@yahoo.com or bartsmock@gmail.com
sound’s shy historian, digger
of a hole
for the mouth
forgetting
to signal
I was dead
I thought about death
I died
sleep was the only spotlight my mother could avoid
if you see a wolf, know suicide
has stopped
working
swimming with father, I said jesus is not the best scarecrow
and father said
swim
I still can’t find Ohio in the the bomb-maker’s Ohio
sister
she feels
brilliant
when there is less
of her
to eat, she is often alone
people I’ve never been to
sister has to use her body to care for her body. teacher of dolls. believer in the grenade become star. her blood she is told could ruin her baby’s nose. her thumb is a comma. god’s is a crow.
I am framed by a quiet that exonerates silence
god is the story
is not
the teller
don’t unpack, she says
we will be
eyes
tomorrow puts it out there
it wants
kids
animals have two souls
go
like light
to undress
