Thursday, October 1, 2015

Russ Cope Poem

Anathema
A Russ Cope Poem

Anathema, the old folks
say, and the town people
say, leaving the unfortunate
isolated and alone

out of what could be new
and promising, but it's just
a walking by curse.

Russ Cope Poem

Deer Head Trophy
A Russ Cope Poem

A deer head trophy
on the wall, made of real
animal, talks to me.

Why did you, why did you
do this to me, it says
over and over again into
my own spiraling darkness.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Russ Cope Poem

RoadKill
by Russ Cope

It's a rain-swishing kind
of day when I am stopped
at the red light.  

The truck in front of me
is loaded down with branches,
leaves, wooden flats.

A bit of what looks like 
foliage sits still at the side
of the road.

The passenger hops out, gives
it a tap of the foot to avoid
teeth, and then hoists it in 
the air.

It is like a stiff, glued carpet
and he plops it in the back,
pulling away, 
leaving me thinking about life.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Russ Cope Poem

Giant
A Russ Cope Poem

A giant washed up on shore
today
from God knows where

We played in his bones
until mother made us come inside,
and we stunk to high heaven

That night, we showered luxuriously
and planned how we would
build swords out of the rib cage

But his body was gone the next
day and we never found him again,
and what’s worst

is mother threw our baseball cards
and childhoods away
while we were gone at the beach.

Russ Cope Poem

No Face
A Russ Cope Poem

It’s honest to God the best
interview I’ve ever seen, people
pawing over a new piece
of tech, rolling it in their hands
like a joint and cooing like doves.

The last person interviewed sealed
the deal.  Underneath her wide brim
straw hat, there was no face, only a sound
coming out,
describing how she needed a new phone.

Just perfect.


Russ Cope Poem

Fang
A Russ Cope Poem

Today we found a tooth
made of stone, impressed in rock.
It’s probably the earliest known
specimen of fang, long before
we were walking out of the soup
and learning how to devour
each other.

I  imagine I could build a whole
animal around this one piece,
just start with the tooth
and go from there, slapping on skin,

hair, jewelry, neuroses, and therapy.

Russ Cope Poem

My Wooden Boyfriend
A Russ Cope Poem

Cami tells me her boyfriend
is made of wood.   I imagined
it as some kind of metaphor,
then I met him.

He stood in the doorway like
some dime store cigar Indian.

I can’t imagine how she pulls
the splinter out of her tongue.