CHAD FORET





GARDENS OF THE GULF


Catfish thrash to Belafonte as sun gathers

in the softness of a squirrel tail. Birkenstocks
haunt the beach. It's a paradise for wasps,

the cosmetic track house shutters. Your wife's

bones foretell the weather. You crave
crab merus, sweet & second only to claw, but

always eat the orange. Dusk comes

down with its secrets & your eyes untangle.
It is supposed to be a buck moon,

but you've never seen a brighter one. Raise

the hammock, raise the loquats,
fruit like a family of New Year's possums

in North Carolina. The dying

think always of the dead, but these trees,
from sweet to stem & seed,

are here because you always loved them.







AUTOCORRECT: THREE