Poet of the Week: Amber Flora Thomas
A Wild Thing
If you thought there was sorrow in the bear,
its one-eyed gaze from inside her teeth,
shook against her jowls, and slobbered upon.
If you thought there was a better day
and more fun to be had, the bow
glued at its throat gone, the plaid
vest new with fringe.
Stolen from its shelf where dolls
and stuffed horses waited for parties
and a child’s snug sleep to bloom
from its faux fur these clouds.
If you thought to pick polyester fiberfill
out of sunflowers, gather synthetic streamers
across the lawn and caught in the fence spikes
could wear you down.
Your house pulled open by this joy
and the brown dog dancing her flaccid kill
over the gate. So you tug the teddy bear
from her mouth and scold a story
that has put the sky on the earth again.
Here, saying, open that ragged gut of fluff,
be gone in wild places, be grateful anyway
if this is the worst thing that happens
on your street today.
Previously published in Connotation Press: An Online Artifact (2016)
https://www.connotationpress.com/hoppenthaler-s-congeries/2845-amber-flora-thomas-poetry