Jeffrey McDaniel

you are a locked car door closing
you are the key forgotten in the ignition
i am the person banging on the window
i am the fog on the glass

you are a wild dog limping up a highway embankment
you are a cactus with human fingertips
you are a tall tree with a scarf around one of the branches
you are a scuba diver looking down at his watch and realizing
you don't have enough air to make it back to the surface
so you live down there among the spare tires
and the other things we do without

you are the loch ness monster
it's been so long since you surfaced
no one believes you exist anymore

you are a submarine that has lost its power
you watch television through a periscope
you are a permanent bath robe
you are a cow poking her head through a barbed wire fence
you are a gambler an hour after squandering the rent

you are going over Niagara Falls in a giant pill bottle
you have a bruised throttle
you are a road trip that's gone awry
you are a bird that stands on a railing
rubbing your wings together
then you climb back down
and you call that a try

you are a piece of chewing gum stuck on the back of a mirror
you are a bag of melted ice on a ballerina's ankle
you are a camel with a straw sticking out of your hump
in your mind you climb onto the ledge
and you jump, you jump, you jump