A. J. Huffman writes

Stars and Stripes

Paint me red,

white,

and blue. I will be

your flag, a mascot of dying

dreams, alive in the wind.

You can pin me to the ceiling

after you graduate,

or to the wall above your bed.

It’s okay, I know

how to surrender.

I have been practicing the wave for years.

A. J. Huffman writes

Darkling

beak. I am bird

or beast, speaking in language

of night. I cry in comatosed

echoes of yesterday. I am

consumed by black. Feathers

fall like foliage. I am molting,

a flightless folly, fluttering nowhere

in visions of forever.

 

Molting -- Gregory Hergert

A. J. Huffman writes

The Butterflies in My Brain

thought I was a light.  Two

nights and an electric zzzzzap

later, my head exploded and

we all went (anything but gentle)

into that great night.

 

 butterfly brain -- Christian Northeast