Poetry
from Vol. 16, No. 1
Alarm
God damn myself
and make a better
man out of me.
Set my shaking head
straight. Hold
my tsking tongue
that makes you
feel small
when I’m big enough
only to crawl
inside a hole—
worm that I am
could never catch
the fish you fry tonight
in too much oil.
I’d say
take the pan off the heat,
but tonight,
let the grease spatter,
let the gas bloom
from liquid blue—
Jason Tandon is the author of two collections of poetry, Give over the Heckler and Everyone Gets Hurt (Black Lawrence, 2009), winner of the 2006 St. Lawrence Book Award, and Wee Hour Martyrdom (sunnyoutside, 2008). His poetry and reviews have recently appeared in the Boston Review, Bellingham Review, Pleiades, Verse Daily, and on The Writer’s Almanac. He teaches in the writing program at Boston University.