Emily

You say

she knew not God

because she scratched

under a floorboard

all winterlong,

the marginal tracks

of a starved mouse

seeking a piece

of brittle crust,

maybe a crumb.

I say

the floorboard

the scratching

the winter

inside her belly

and tiny paws

induced vision

strong enough

to stare down a sun

setting two ticks too quickly

every premature dusk.

It was her solemn and loving

way of announcing—i am emily—

a signature inviolably scratched

in the floorboard

in winter

in the ecstasy born of a crumb

converted into a banquet.

These things

and not people

not civilization

not society

brought her nearer to God

to herself—

the barest means

shafting

utter blankness.

About John Biscello

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, novelist, poet, performer, playwright and filmmaker, John Biscello, has lived in the high-desert grunge-wonderland of Taos, New Mexico since 2001. He is the author of six novels, Broken Land, a Brooklyn Tale, Raking the Dust, Nocturne Variations, No Man’s Brooklyn, The Last Furies, and No One Dreams in Color; a collection of stories, Freeze Tag, two poetry collections, Arclight and Moonglow on Mercy Street; and a fable, The Jackdaw and the Doll, illustrated by Izumi Yokoyama. He also adapted classic fables, which were paired with the vintage illustrations of artist, Paul Bransom, for the collection: Once Upon a Time, Classic Fables Reimagined. His plays have been staged and performed both nationally and internationally.

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