may 28th 2023 - a day at the races 05 - florida gator

[skonen_blades]

There's an event called A Day at the Races where poets go to the horse races and they each pick a horse name at random from each of the seven races and then use that name as a prompt for a poem. At the end of the day, we read out the 'winning' poem from each race and then whatever other poems we think turned out pretty good. It's a fun day.

This is poem 05 from race 05 and my horse's name was florida gator.

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I see you, retiree.

With your long eyelashes
and your long, wide, snout.

People asking you if you’re an Alaskan crocodile
and then saying, “Well, you don’t have to bite my head off.”
When you bite their head off.

Head like a capital A.
Fancy hats, pearls, gloves,
and handbag skin.

But when you cry, you mean it.
Your death roll happens
under covers on king-sized beds

I will never see you in a while
but I will always see you later

You wait, motionless, until your chance
Sponging in the sun
like your scales are solar panels

Lunge, old lady, lunge




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