RAPOETICS REPRINT: Hat Trick by Graham Isacc

 

Hat Trick

Curtains and tights.
Doves and canes.
Caps, cufflinks, gloves,
shining.
We were that joke about
the truck, who turned into
a cornfield.

Hey ravens! Hey crows! these stalks aren’t for ignoring.

Pendants and saws.
Repurposed coffins.
Lights so bright or
none at all.

(crystal, but with a joke about balls. A twitch and a wink)

Capes, capes, capes.
This knife can cut through an
ordinary leather sofa in
ten minutes. Think what
the whole set could do. $19.99.
These shoes were the finest
taps in all the land, we
can be your cobbler.
Keep in mind, we used to
be people who used to be
a truck.

Rally, motorcycles! Rally, flamethrowers! Rally, chrome-winged-donkeys.

it is so unfair that these
things repeat themselves.
Nonetheless, we were velvet curtains,
waxed goatee, blazer. Twirling
a rabbit on our finger, blowing
a kiss in sparkling blue pastel,
what they wanted to see,
harsh realities not withstanding.
(this knife cuts through cob. Wheel, wheel, wheel!)

 

Graham Isaac is a writer living and working in Seattle, Washington. He holds an MA in Creative and Media Writing from the University of Wales, Swansea, where he co-founded The Crunch, South Wales’ largest regularly running poetry and spoken word open mic. He hosted the monthly Works in Progress night at Richard Hugo House and co-curated Claustrophobia, an underground poetry and performance series around Seattle. He was also co-curator of Five Alarms: The Greenwood Lit Crawl. He has a book of poetry out in the world called Filth Jerry’s Guide to Parking Lots.

Copyright © 2015 by Graham Isaac

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover Photo by Duane Kirby Jensen