Joy H. Mann

Joy is widely published both in hardcopy and various ezines. She lives

in Canada, runs a junk store, and can be reached at joyhm@ripnet.com.

Coming October Storm

The sun has lost its balance:

the dog

asleep on the porch

whimpers

even half asleep noticing

how the leaves wait motionless

and thunder growls somewhere out of sight.

An escaping rush of air rattles

the screen door

and the dog joins it

begging to come in.

The buzz of my neighbor's chain saw cuts off =

suddenly.

An Old Boyfriend

Asked him how he'd been

any kids?

his relatives?

and he stood leaning back slightly

ready to run

like a bicycle spinning its back wheel.

We hadn't parted on the best of terms . . .

Hell!

I'd threatened to kill him.

I said goodbye, my hand

held out, optimistic as a speed bump

and he backed away

looking as if it were a portent

picking up speed

shifting into an infinitesimal gear

careless of the oncoming traffic.

Joy H. Mann