By Thomas Zimmerman
The beer I drink is bitter but without
much character: like friends we’ve had and lost
or dropped. My wife’s on Zoom, the dog’s asleep,
and I am stranded with my thoughts: a monkey mind
that swings from tree to tree, then beats its chest
or scratches its bare ass. Thank goodness for
the music: Shostakovich, tragic with
some jokes thrown in. Great art beats death, and life.
The sky is darkening, it looks like rain.
The backyard spruces rage like shaggy mammoths
in the wind. Just thought I saw my double,
long-haired, clawed, and hunkered on all fours.
Raccoon, I realize now. It’s shredding something.
Book I left outside. My poems, of course.
Thomas Zimmerman (he/him) teaches English, directs the Writing Center, and edits The Big Windows Review at Washtenaw Community College, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. His poems have appeared recently in Interstellar Literary Review, Pulsebeat Poetry Journal, and Sixpence Society. His latest book is the chapbook ‘The House of Cerberus’ (Alien Buddha Press 2022). You can learn more at his website: https:/thomaszimmerman.wordpress.com or follow him on Twitter: @bwr_tom and Instagram: tzman2012
