How Safe is this Plate of Chickpeas and Rice
By Patricia Russo
The noise that scared you
you made yourself
The mean woman upstairs
has gone to work
The old man across the hall
is visiting his daughter in hospice
Those guys in the basement
building a time machine
vanished last week
There’s no one to save you
if you choke
So chew carefully
Patricia Russo has poems in or upcoming at One Art, Acropolis Journal, The Sunlight Press, and Twin Bird Review.
Artwork Source: “Plate,” Erwin Schwabe (ca.1936). In the public domain.
The Turning Leaf Journal 