I asked for
a prayer
sprouting in secret
before forever
growing, reaching
moments of grandeur
And what if I told you
that I got what I asked for
an answer
that seemed to be playing
at the corners of my mind
away from all logic in
that pattern
of coincidence
that might have been
divine
or happenstance
I never asked for
a cure for
whatever
was wrong with me
I just asked that
my nervous speech
would
be soothed, if I
just breathed
tell me how soon the answers
would burn like tannins
would taste almost sweet
lingering
like onion on the tongue
Perhaps if I listen
more
I will have the answer

The bumper crop
of acorns
five years
ago caused the
squirrel-pocalypse; four
years back
We thought it was funny
Thousands of squirrels
plastered on the blacktop
victim to their own folly
and speeding
vehicles that may or may not have known
What a mess
The squirrel-pocalypse
four years ago, a
feast
for the ticks
a giant step toward
lyme
disease
three years ago
Everyone was checking
for ticks
not everyone
found them and
then
came, another mast year for acorns
and another one
Now there are mice and chipmunks
everywhere
Next year
there will be
ticks again
and lyme disease

Christopher Clauss (he/him) is an introvert, Ravenclaw, father, poet, photographer, and middle school science teacher in rural New Hampshire. His mother believes his poetry is "just wonderful." Both of his children declare that he is the "best daddy they have," and his pre-teen science students rave that he is "Fine, I guess. Whatever." Christopher's first full-length book of poetry, Photosynthesis & Respiration is now available from Silver Bow Press.

Morgan Barrie is an artist and photographer based in the Midwest. She studied at Columbia College Chicago, where she received her BA, and Eastern Michigan University, where she received an MFA in Photography in April 2013. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She currently works from a studio in Menomonie, Wisconsin and is an Assistant Professor in the School of Art & Design at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.