i have lived in Seattle there have always been 
construction cranes in some part of the city 

so that nothing has ever really been fixed 
or constructed 

and yet i demand that my internal streets 
and flickering buildings be 

safe and up to code 
be navigable 

be devoid of cassowaries and locusts 
be empty of inverted frogs 

or demons gesticulating on golf carts 
or alleys flooded with unwashed spells 

oh i have tried! my capsized prayers 
climb up spines to escape 

the years the years the lipless 
mouths of saints 

—Poem was posted to Facebook on 21 November 2022, and appears here with poet’s permission.

Scott Ferry

helps our Veterans heal as an RN in the Seattle area. His next book of poetry, The Long Blade of Days Ahead, is due out in August from Impspired. Links to his other books, including his first collection, The only thing that makes sense is to grow (Moon Tide Press, 2019), are available at his website:

Ferrypoetry.com