I am not of the animal peopleI dress in drag and eat choke
cherries while whiskey drowns
laughter like the ancient river.
Herds separated by kind
sing songs to the maker
while great Father’s voice
washes across the thirsty land.
“Why did this happen?”
“Who should I gift
this golden fish to?”
“What can be done with this?”
The animal people do not hear
their own hearts’ hard pits
wasting in the sun
bellies full of the voice.
When the full moon rises out
of Coyote’s gaping mouth
the Father has his answers
walking away in his pumps.
Brad Garber has published poetry in Cream City Review, Alchemy, Fireweed, gape seed (an anthology published by Uphook Press), Front Range Review, theNewerYork Press, Taekwondo Times, Ray’s Road Review, Flowers & Vortexes (Promise of Light), Emerge Literary Journal, Generation Press, Penduline Press, Dead Flowers: A Poetry Rag, New Verse News, and Mercury. His poem “Where We May Be Found” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2013. His essays have been published in Brainstorm NW, Naturally magazine and N, The Magazine of Naturist Living. He has also published erotica in Oysters & Chocolate, Clean Sheets, and MindFuckFiction. A musician/lyricist since 1969, Brad was a 2003 Regional Semi-Finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition, and Honorable Mention in 1980 and 1981.