Catch a false idol in the heat. Rome wasn’t sacked in a day.

This one is a king fissure. Smoke iridesces under light

like golden phenolphthalein in a beaker of black water.

I saw a white squirrel once bisecting a back alley.

Or it might just be kingfisher. It stings to rerun old tracks

solo. The devil wears you out. Idea: We taste hot blood in

mouths at weddings. Hear a drunken doctor say, I want you

to have at least a six out of ten buzz on all night.

A road side sign here advertises Drowning Prevention

Week; another, the location of a real life car crash

tragedy. Fifteen second snips of coffee shop employees

dipped in honey flit by. The poolside sign says Shallow

Water No Dividing. Idea: We should all have fluffy tails,

the better to distinguish us from the common rat. Or

it might just be No Diving. Hell is a fancy dinner party.

You’re forever waving at the statue sitting next to me.

Alex Manley is a Montreal writer. A graduate of Concordia University’s creative writing program, he was the recipient of the 2012 Irving Layton Award for Fiction. His work has appeared in Maisonneuve, Peach Mag, BAD NUDES, and carte blanche, among others. His debut poetry collection, We Are All Just Animals & Plants, was published by Metatron Press in 2016.

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