Now a stranger
strokes my hair. Depraved
the swarm
of monarchs
in my chest—(anything en masse
is also terror.)
Ambulance man
has eyes like yours,
two ponds that kept
the mare alive
except for that one summer.
Louise Mathias is the author of two books of poems, Lark Apprentice (New Issues Press) and The Traps (Four Way Books). She lives in Joshua Tree, California.