An Exercise in Meandering

I taught your favourite dance move to the furniture-

An Exercise in Meandering
Photo by sue hughes / Unsplash

by Spencer Keene


I wear the fabric lampshade

To ward the boredom off

Sip ashtray slurries

Punch outlets that swallow

Plugs in dual-pronged feasts


I taught your favourite dance move to the furniture—

You should see my sofa two-step


I’m sorry that sense is something

I can’t seem to make

Takes too much time

To whittle reality’s wood

Into something I can stand


Does the flowering teacup smell stale to you?

They say it’s a common symptom


Of whatever it is that ails me

The looping stances I take

The lies I bake into bread

To feed the antique children

Who play in the plastic jungle


Spencer Keene (he/him) is a writer and lawyer from Vancouver, BC. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in a variety of print and digital publications, including SAD Magazine, Sea to Sky Review, and Dog Throat Journal. Find more of Spencer's work at www.spencerkeene.ca.