for Philip Guston

Worried Shoes

(inspired by Philip Guston)

I made a rock

out of a stone

a toe

out of a foot

a rug out of a handle bar

mustache.

He says crunches for crutches

remember-y for memory.

Parts folding like a cardboard pony in my pocket.

Fingers pointed in

opposite directions

her countenance

belied her

truancy.

We are both saying

we are okay

but we are not.

Beth Krumholz

Winter 2015

Arch

Arch

The varnish swallowed the

shutter. He grinds and toils

in foolish affection.

On a whim, mother speaks

as he sways from the lintel’s

black edge.

Luster shines on whose

firmament. To shun

the wood-chopper.

Spring 2015

The Roundup

The Roundup

I poured your tea

while I drained his Gingerale.

I watched you suffer

and did nothing.

I crawled under the crumbling roof

to retrieve my belongings.

I didn’t know how to love you

and you didn’t know how

to accept my love. 

March 2015