Tim McLafferty

T i m  M c L a f f e r t y

Medication

Well, that didn’t work out so well, I think.

I mean, there you are in your Mao suit,

and a comrade’s daughter walks by in new

Versace and Tiffany. At this point, you’ll

need some serious hypnosis, a panacea—

limitless undying love, waves of joy, a

million Suns shining.

Afternoon with Sun

Resin burned sweet as I cut a branch

from the yew.

My father stood on the soft earth

beneath me.

“Looks like a woodpecker’s been at

this tree,” I said.

It was early fall

and the last cicadas were sounding.

Vernal Equinox

And so she steps across the equator

in all her glory, the fields of winter

asphodel beneath her and Helios

above. The birdsong changes key as

the light softens and warms, and we

look to the earth star, standing in its

long shadows, gladdened and aglow.

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