Tim Kahl
Toll Road Gridlock
toll road to the Vegas chapel
recognized as popular prison
of butterfly effects
human reconstruction welcomed
by regional holy men promoting
skin implants as signs of worship
man with concealed weapon
plays Elvis in wedding package
inspectors hover over
aardvark complex
establish rigid guidelines
for captivity
Mimi and Eddie spur on
their own botched lobotomy
play river otter eating pasta
take their shot at Superlotto
record number of toothaches
gridlock at the dental clinic
Toll Road Gridlock
toll road to the Vegas chapel
recognized as popular prison
of butterfly effects
human reconstruction welcomed
by regional holy men promoting
skin implants as signs of worship
man with concealed weapon
plays Elvis in wedding package
inspectors hover over
aardvark complex
establish rigid guidelines
for captivity
Mimi and Eddie spur on
their own botched lobotomy
play river otter eating pasta
take their shot at Superlotto
record number of toothaches
gridlock at the dental clinic
War License
questionnaire for armaments:
corpses torn during classical music
will test the harvests of disaster
or discipline a warm home
an armored car surges through winter
bamboo executed with razor wire
a command floats to
the endpoint of a population
every kind of sinister trap
plans for emergency treats
ambition of the scholar peasant:
a loyal pontoon with a rope swing
a separate people judges
the gravedigger posing
as disturbed delegate
who delivers flowers
to the famine umbrella
a paralyzed flower
honors the in utero child
with a license for war
questionnaire for armaments:
corpses torn during classical music
will test the harvests of disaster
or discipline a warm home
an armored car surges through winter
bamboo executed with razor wire
a command floats to
the endpoint of a population
every kind of sinister trap
plans for emergency treats
ambition of the scholar peasant:
a loyal pontoon with a rope swing
a separate people judges
the gravedigger posing
as disturbed delegate
who delivers flowers
to the famine umbrella
a paralyzed flower
honors the in utero child
with a license for war
No Lumens
miners head north
in the power outage
collect data from
a network of stars
planning a neighborhood party
a study of miracles
discovers its editor
in a tunnel
talking to
a collapsible card table
a trap opens into a five star room
a fleet of rescuers puts
a choke hold on a lamp
No lumens
a snack in the dark
both slices grapple a parent
pregnant with
a white frayed candle wick
miners head north
in the power outage
collect data from
a network of stars
planning a neighborhood party
a study of miracles
discovers its editor
in a tunnel
talking to
a collapsible card table
a trap opens into a five star room
a fleet of rescuers puts
a choke hold on a lamp
No lumens
a snack in the dark
both slices grapple a parent
pregnant with
a white frayed candle wick
Tim Kahl [http://www.timkahl.com] is the author of Possessing Yourself (CW books, 2009) and The Century of Travel (CW Books, 2012). His work has been published in Prairie Schooner, Indiana Review, Ninth Letter, Notre Dame Review, The Journal, Parthenon West Review, and many other journals in the U.S. He appears as Victor Schnickelfritz at the poetry and poetics blog The Great American Pinup (http://greatamericanpinup.wordpress.com/) and the poetry video blog Linebreak Studios [http://linebreakstudios.blogspot.com/]. He is also editor of Bald Trickster Press and Clade Song [http://www.cladesong.com]. He is the vice president and events coordinator of The Sacramento Poetry Center. He currently houses his father's literary estate—one volume: Robert Gerstmann's book of photos of Chile, 1932).
