by Grant Clauser
Going back to the wreckage
was, of course, a mistake,
like going back to revenge
or digging up the bones
of your childhood pet.
It’s not the memory
you find, not the broken
plates and picture frames
vibrating in the rubble,
but the loss of this, like a swarm
of bees you can’t run away from
because the more you swat
them from your face,
the deeper they wound,
yet still you believe
you can taste the honey
in their sting.
Grant Clauser is the author of two poetry books, Necessary Myths (Broadkill River Press 2013) and The Trouble with Rivers (Foothills Publishing 2012). Poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Cheat River Review, The Good Men Project, Mason’s Road, Painted Bride Quarterly, and others. He also writes about electronics, teaches poetry at random places and chases trout with a stick. Grant’s blog is http://www.uniambic.com
Hawaii Pacific Review 