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Three Poems

by Larry Narron



The first time I saw fireflies
 
I thought a wild animal, perhaps
Bigfoot, was blinking at us
not too far from our campsite,
squeezing his eyes shut each time
for as long as he could so
we wouldn't notice too many
sparks popping out from
the leathery slits formed                                            
by the wrinkling of their lids.
 
Even Sasquatch, I reasoned,
familiar as he must be with the trails
of Roosevelt National Park,
must worry about stumbling
blindly into the darkened
aluminum of a Weekend
Warrior slumped in a lot,
about squashing the toads
commencing their solemn
council at the door of the outhouse,
about barging in on the fragile
dreams of small children
by crushing too many
discarded beer cans
under his seven-toed feet.
 
You scoffed at the uncharted
wilderness of my mind
& tried to comfort me
by insisting there was
no such creature as Bigfoot,
that I should try not to blink
so I wouldn't miss out on
the spectacle of the lightning
bugs thumbing the wheels
of their miniature lighters,
holding them up as they relished
music only they possessed
ears small enough to perceive.




Illusionist

 
A squirrel picks
at a salad
of cigarette butts,
 
flings away
pine needle garnish,
makes a paper
 
napkin appear
like a scarf.
Then, bit by bit,
 
the scarf vanishes
into its mouth
right before my eyes.




 Icebreaker
 
I know the man who loves Cool Ranch Doritos
majored in Spanish at Swarthmore, that he was captain
of the Quidditch team there, that he led 
 
them to victory over Haverford, that he hated
all the rich kids who went to either school
& wanted to beat all their Trump-loving asses
 
with his broom, that he didn't. I know our new boss
might wear pinstripes & ties to the office,
but on weekends she likes to dress up
 
as a gargoyle, make stop-motion movies
of her prowling the rooftops of churches,
rewatch The Crow with her ex. I know
 
her ex-husband is gay, that she didn't know this
for years. No one else knows (except now we all do).
I know the janitor appreciates icebreakers
 
about as much as I do, that she roots for
the Steelers instead of the Eagles. I know
she's prediabetic, but who would've known?
 
Not even the analyst would've, who no one
would've supposed knows so much
about numerology, who gets tears in her eyes
 
when she writes down the dates of our birthdays.
I know everyone's read Harry Potter
but me, & so I have nothing to say 
                       
when they ask me, “Which house are you in?”
They tell me the icebreaker will help them decide.
Then I'll know where I belong.
 
                                                                for Olivia

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

​​

​

​Larry Narron is a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. His poems appear or are forthcoming in ​Booth, The Brooklyn Review, Phoebe, Santa Clara Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, The Boiler, and elsewhere. They've been nominated for the Best of the Net and Best New Poets. Larry grew up in California
Photo used under Creative Commons from Steven Weng