Bryce Johle | 3 Poems
Dying Limb
Charcoal in me
to soak up the bad
in the middle
of the night.
Capsules packed
with black
handed to me
in the dark.
I swallow them
blindly,
so I don’t puke
like stepdaughter.
From complete burn,
with effort,
always
new fruit comes
and flower
you may think
will never
petal.
I trust in the unfolding
of tree trunks
after
a small death.
I forget you
don’t trust
so
easily,
and never thought
I could have
a dying,
a poor limb.
But here we are,
protecting ourselves
from food poisoning,
from
flu.
Inking Their Backs
Count the ladybugs crawling the vaulted ceiling, gathering
at peak. Count them with my thumb and mark them read
in smears on our ribs. Ten of them, eleven, soon they’ll crack
the windowpanes in labor, cry like a body of water, a winged
child, little flyers wisping in crescents from hand and returning
in good fortune. A corporeal swarm clinging to the warm sides
of wood and glass. Some might call it an infestation, as we do,
closing the door behind us, reading the pigment on the cages in
our bodies as we pack the car. Some collect lady spots,
number them with wishes. We thought they were junk mail.
My mother says they are a sign of pregnancy.
I begin to ink their backs neon green, so I know who’s new.
Some Disagreements
We’ve been fighting every day this month,
and each time, we make up and it’s the last.
And every day, we wake up and tip-toe
to the other, and recommend one last change,
just one more thing that would make living
together more loving, cohesive, and married.
We each agree to stop being quite so selfish,
and it sits in our stomachs like a wet snake
tied in a knot, but she said this was the last one,
so thankfully the arguing has come to an end;
we can be happy now.
Bryce Johle is from Williamsport, PA and earned a B.A. in Professional Writing from Kutztown University. His work has appeared, or will soon, in Litbreak Magazine, Literary Yard, October Hill Magazine, Ghost City Review, and ArliJo, among others. He currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife and stepdaughter.
[…] like to extend a shoutout and huge congratulations to coalitionist Bryce Johle (CW2) on the release of a new podcast project, Arcade Bookshop! Coming to you on August […]