Poetry / Nikki Wallschlaeger

:: Sonnet (8) ::

                   

                    Do not feed the negativity machine
                    it gives us light, beautiful signs of blight
                    We should all be oyster joyous & keyless
                    When we have our geometries managed
                    And the intersections waiting on tables
                    showing us how to be better at patience
                    We can feel a little now when the mayors of
                    The dead have taken care of the layering
                    Before the next afterparty is born
                    That we are going to be abundantly
                    Pleasant & quiet on a payday afternoon.

                    
                    “We’re only human,” says guidance counselor.
                    “When you accept yourself, everyone wins.”

From the writer

:: Account ::

Form is every­where & it’s use­less to deny it, so I like to play with the illu­sion of hav­ing con­trol. This is from a series of son­nets that I’ve placed into small build­ings, but since the bank owns the build­ings that I move in, I am only pay­ing mort­gage. We have an under­stand­ing. The son­net has agreed to the task of my sub­ver­sions, that the secu­ri­ty guard is on a per­ma­nent lunch break so we can get inside. A win­dow that is open on the top floor? A claw in the paint­ing? These are my micro-vic­to­ries against hegemony.

Nik­ki Wallschlaeger’s work has been fea­tured in DecomP, Esque, Word Riot,
Spork, Like­wise Folio, Horse Less Review, Sto­ryscape Jour­nal, Coconut,
Bone Bou­quet (forth­com­ing, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Lau­ra Gold­stein), and others.
She is also the author of the chap­book THE FROGS AT NIGHT (Shirt Pocket
Press) and the chap­book, I WOULD BE THE HAPPIEST BIRD (Horse­less Press), as well as Asso­ciate Poet­ry Edi­tor at Coconut Poet­ry. She lives in Milwaukee,
WI, and you can reach her at www.nikkiwallschlaeger.com.