Cary B. Ziter
Summer 2024 | Poetry
Two Poems
Tsunami
when honesty
has its moment
i admit i’m
in love.
love being in cahoots
with sex
and sex being
a tsunami:
rivers swell
barns blow away
plump chickens
and monkeys
run
for cover.
and after a short
spell
the grass regrows
and the present
is less
frightening;
that’s when
the mask comes
off, the true face
shows,
the weariness
of vast space dissipates,
and the white tooth
of wonder
sinks
into our eager
flesh.
Pest Advisory Service
bed bugs thrive in
warm environments.
and i trick them
into coming out at night,
inviting them to burrow inside
me, letting them sneak
up on my thatched heart,
a place dark, lonely
and cold enough
to kill ‘em.
Cary B. Ziter is the author of several published books for young readers. Prior to his retirement he worked for the New York State Tax Department, Exxon and IBM, including long-term assignments in Paris and Hong Kong. He earned a degree in journalism from Morrisville Agricultural and Technical College and his master’s in literature from Bennington College. His poetry has appeared in Blueline, the Front Range Review, California Quarterly, Oracle and other literary journals. He and his wife, Jozi, live in Cold Spring, New York.