James O'Leary
Waiting
Atop soft, clean sheets
a pill bug crawls across what is to it an endless expanse of gray.
My skin itches. My prescriptions are overdue. I lie ashamed
a blanket over my head, teddy bears tossed
to the floor. I am terrified of touch
even by a being so small
I could bite it, crunch, swallow,
& my teeth could still shine white & clean.
As I wait for my wife to return from the city, I shake
nervous, bruised by the weight of the outside light
angled in through the shell of the afternoon.
Too soon, I say as I wait to kill the bug.
Too soon, the bug hesitates before my hairy leg.
The violence sitting between us wrinkles, then folds
to hope. What use am I except to stand up
with a plastic cup, a sheet of paper, slide one under the other
& carry the rolly polly outside
to the sweet shimmering stalks of summer grass?
& when a wasp wipes it into the sky
like a buzzing yellow scythe
what choice do I have but to go back inside
& grab the sheets to press them clean
a pill bug crawls across what is to it an endless expanse of gray.
My skin itches. My prescriptions are overdue. I lie ashamed
a blanket over my head, teddy bears tossed
to the floor. I am terrified of touch
even by a being so small
I could bite it, crunch, swallow,
& my teeth could still shine white & clean.
As I wait for my wife to return from the city, I shake
nervous, bruised by the weight of the outside light
angled in through the shell of the afternoon.
Too soon, I say as I wait to kill the bug.
Too soon, the bug hesitates before my hairy leg.
The violence sitting between us wrinkles, then folds
to hope. What use am I except to stand up
with a plastic cup, a sheet of paper, slide one under the other
& carry the rolly polly outside
to the sweet shimmering stalks of summer grass?
& when a wasp wipes it into the sky
like a buzzing yellow scythe
what choice do I have but to go back inside
& grab the sheets to press them clean
Biography
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James O’Leary (they/them) is a gender-fluid Pisces barista from Arizona. After spending some time up and down their home state, James has currently relocated to New York City, where they are pursuing an MFA at Sarah Lawrence College. James’s most recent work has appeared in such places as Frontier, Random Sample Review, and The Indianapolis Review. James wants to share some coffee with you and talk about birds. You can find them on Twitter @thesundaypoet
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