Birds of Acid

An unnatural milk feeds our mouths,
a formula of lick and pucker.
Absorb these collisions in a cradle,

let this become our verisimilitude;
a carcass of sluice.

They’ve turned our suppressed neighborhood
into a battleground of urgent violins
and German shadowlands

by failing to declare their mutant virus
at the border.

Someone has created a hostage situation
of futile stuttering

hallucinations,
a megaplex of mineshafts

involving the capture
of awakened beings and birds of acid gloaming.

We don’t want that kind anywhere near us—

this will be a spring of deviation
when hungry interlopers will be broken
into millions of facets

and only later we will wonder how we grew

into such free-form fists of constriction
having only each other left to so tightly hold.

–Richard King Perkins II

 

Richard King Perkins II is a state-sponsored advocate for residents in long-term care facilities. He lives in Crystal Lake, IL, USA with his wife, Vickie and daughter, Sage. He is a three-time Pushcart, Best of the Net and Best of the Web nominee whose work has appeared in more than a thousand publications.