halloween, 2022
The house stayed gray til two pm,
when the sun dropped her robe.
Now the moon is out acting like a streetlamp.
This evening, four-foot ghosts and monsters
scampered over lawns. Still and again
the earth turns, Mars quakes, bacteria devour.
Relentless. I’m tired of being in the play
absent of any reason. There is nothing
to do but wait and serve the body.
I know it’s all temporary. That’s the treat.
The trick is to wrap the mind around it.
Maya Marshall is the author of the poetry collection All the Blood Involved in Love. She cofounded underbelly, the journal on the practical magic of poetic revision. Her writing has been published in Boston Review, Crazyhorse, Best New Poets, Poets & Writers, and elsewhere. She is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Adelphi University.