Anecdote
Of The Edibles
Frank Iosue
All night,
I can hear them
in the walls. They
scratch
along the window
sills, go
up and down the
stairs.
Their bodies are
like
cupped little hands
holding something
secret in...
houses alive with
little inner things
that devour them;
that make them emptier.
In the morning, I
yawn.
Go down to do
my teeth and shave.
From the kitchen
comes
a "snap"
and a lingering
rattle of wood
against wood.
In the trap,
another one lies.
Gutside down.
A broken back.
The morning light
dancing on its
eyes.
For a moment,
the stairs are
silent.
The walls still.
In the mirror, my
face
smiles back at me.
The razor in my
hand
starts eating me
away.
Submitter Bio:
Frank Iosue was born in Los Angeles,
California in 1951. He holds
a Bachelor Of Arts degree in English
from California State University, Los Angeles and a Master Of Fine Arts degree
in Creative Writing / Poetry from The University of Iowa / Writer's Workshop.
He has conducted writing workshops,
been a featured reader at venues around Southern Arizona, and has served as a
judge for numerous national poetry competitions through the National Federation
Of State Poetry Societies. He also served as judge for the 2022 California
State Poetry Society Annual Contest.
His poems have appeared in numerous
publications and online journals. He has published 11 chapbooks of poetry,
which were compiled and published in his volume The Au Revoir Of An Enormous
Us : Collected Poems ( 2017 ).
He lives near Tucson,
Arizona.
