Fiveheart (Parnassus)
My poem “Fiveheart” about worms after rain was originally published in Parnassus in Spring 2010. This poem is reprinted here.
—
Fiveheart
The worms populate the
sidewalk when it rains.
When people are under
showerheads in dark houses.
After the rain,
Before sun-up,
the worms are synchronized
symmetrical
slimy
The worms stretch out quiet,
toward high ground—
nonporous ground.
They communicate to each other
stripes on cement
each end equally a tail and a head.
And the people invade
the worm art is disfigured.
Those not pasted are split,
anticipating coming bikes.
And the halves ask the halves:
a better death than drowning?
a better death than drying in the sun?