By Stephen Sturgeon, Edited by Raquel Balboni & Ben Mazer for Boston Compass (#129)
November 18, 2020
Black Cat Kid
there could be a fence
no difference its material
for ok the sake of the telling it is plastic
but a certain kind of plastic
that is supposed to look like metal
from a distance like wrought iron
a black hard plastic maybe it is a polymer
synthetic polymers seem horrible
it is a black hard plastic that is supposed to look
like wrought iron from a distance
now the fence is a given
everyone thinks it looks very bad
also there is this kid
who hangs out there drinking stuff
some days it’s soda and other days
it is juice but he’s always there
he’s the constant
they saw him drinking water at the fence
one day and that was strange
for him to have a colorless drink
that was him
they call him the black cat kid
people don’t want him crossing their paths
they don’t want to be involved with him
because he makes them uneasy
they think there is something off
—Stephen Sturgeon is the author of two books of poems, Trees of the Twentieth Century (2011) and The Ship (2014).
Viscous Verses is edited by Raquel Balboni & Ben Mazer
Instagram: @editorsartletters
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