Writing bad romance
Begging people to take my class
Fighting with my girl
Turn off the phone turn off the phone
Turn off the stupid phone
Not enough sleep
Everything dirty gray
Even my pink tree
Nothing smells fresh
Swiping desperate looking men
Looking for your face
Eating too much
The movie everyone loved
seems pretentious
The star is young and pretty
My ex loved her of course
E’s off the grid
B’s daughter hurt her knee
Is Lilly okay?
My boy is on the iPad
Chirping as he plays
I forget  to be grateful
I forget to say
I love you

– FLB

***

Noise pollution

by LB

The generator turns on at 6am
We are off the grid
And the sun has been sleeping
For four days
Despite living in the tropics
So we have no power
Because our batteries
Are empty
The engine vibrates the walls
Then at 6:11am
A tractor the size of a T Rex
Moves outside my window
The generator tries to scare it away
But the excavator stops just beside it
Starts lifting and dropping boulders
For the neighbor’s new pool
I put the sound machine on
The loudest setting
Ocean rumbles and raindrops compete
But stand no chance
The sun is not going to come out
The water in the shower will be cold
My son’s cough won’t get better
My husband has already left