Breath & Shadow
Winter 2022 - Vol. 19, Issue 1
"Mailtime"
written by
Kyle E. Miller
coming in from the sun
words green on the page
leaves exploding
in a bowl of cream
and the poems smell like
the one for whom they once belonged
her perfume underneath
old wood smell of books
and a house against the plain
full of riversmoke and clean laundry
suddenly
I hate this sanitized space
my apartment
"everything new"
history hunted out of the cracks and killed
to preserve the smooth illusion of
starting over
forgetting the fact
that professors of history are wise
and never lonely
Thrown out of Fairyland for crimes against the Realm, Kyle is a naturalist and poet living in Michigan. He can usually be found in the dunes or forests, turning up logs looking for life. Past incarnations include zookeeper, video game critic, retail manager, stablehand, and writing tutor. His fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Three-Lobed Burning Eye, and Honey & Sulphur. You can find more at www.kyle-e-miller.com.