3 poems from Rickey Rivers Jr.

Curious Prey

Use your eyes to taste wonders
No suffering for blunders
 
Awake at once from winter slumber
Fall into spring, oh rotted lumber
 
Melt the snow, the grass: cucumber
Now you feel familiar hunger
 
Use your hands to feel this change.
The atmosphere: a silent bang.
 
No longer be a messy runt.
Get out there and hunt.


No Fun Land

Admission is cheek kissing
No fun land
Snakes in the grass hissing
Momma in the kitchen

Sound drowns out the chemical plant 
Or is it scrap metal
Cans into can't, people into ants
Friends into antonyms
“But what does it mean?”
 
The future is full of Bradbury dreams.
No Mars reality, books burn with chemicals
Inhale authorship, text me the answer.
 
The teacher doesn't mind. 
The teacher isn't here.

Flood

Two peas in a pod, same boat
Down the street they go
 
It's flooded, damage all around
 
A crying man has lost his wife and child
A child has lost his parents.
 
A woman is floating with nothing to do and nowhere to go
Many others remain on what's left of houses
They are praying
Some scream for help
 
Flood waters keep moving
Children chase floating books with hopes of catching ink
 
The boats arrive then turn around
The rescued want to share
 
But there's no room anymore
There's no room anywhere


Rickey Rivers Jr was born and raised in Alabama. He is a Best of the Net nominated writer and cancer survivor. His work has appeared in Brave Voices, Sage Cigarettes and Hell Hued Zine (among other publications). Twitter.com/storiesyoumight Sensurlon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XDHZXHB

A Poetry Showcase for Rickey Rivers Jr.