One poem by ACE BOGGESS

'DO YOU SAVE FOR A RAINY DAY?'                                                                                               

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I work hard, pull in a little scratch, &

my laptop dabbles in seppuku,

leaps from a tall building,

overdoses on a googolplex of giga-biturates.

Some sort of protest, I think—against what,

I can’t say, too numb from isolation panic

of data loss & a bank statement

that reads like binary code for a closed door.

It happens often: money lands like a firefly in my palm,

then glitters off to someone else’s fairy tale.

What good is it trying to save

when already it rains over long grass & rooftops,

stacks of picnic paper plates,

the muddy mausoleum

where bodies of old raindrops rest?

I can’t even research statistics of loss

with computer in pieces down the road.

All I can do is run my hands

through the penny jar looking for a dime,

or collect quarters fallen

to the floorboards of my car

while telling myself it’s raining again,

it’s always raining somewhere in the world.

**

ACE BOGGESS is the author of two books of poetry: The Prisoners (Brick Road, 2014) and The Beautiful Girl Whose Wish Was Not Fulfilled (Highwire, 2003).  His writing has appeared in Harvard Review, Mid-American Review, RATTLE, River Styx, and many other journals. He lives in Charleston, West Virginia.