It slugs along the concrete,

groveling for scraps,

a mummy of rejected parts.

 

An atrocity, its body

is soft and patchy

with hair, scales, flesh—

and letters.

 

Always fueled by my discarded

turns of phrase,

it skulks in the background

of the cellar,

gathering power pieced together

from my unwanted.

 

I am in charge here,

I remind myself

as I toss another poem below,

and I only need worry

if I were to give it…

something sharp.

Annie Neugebauer is a short story writer, novelist, and award-winning poet. She has work appearing or forthcoming in Wichita Falls Literature and Art Review,Six Sentences, Texas Poetry Calendar 2011, Voices de la Luna, Versifico,Collections I, Phantom Kangaroo, Ardent!, The Stray Branch, Dark Horizons,Eunoia Review, and Encore.

Annie is the President of the North Branch Writers’ Critique Group as well as the Vice President of the Denton Poets’ Assembly. She lives in Denton, Texas with her husband Kyle and two cats, Buttons and Snaps. You can visit her at www.WordsByAnnie.com.