William C. Blome
Before
One rook flew in my love's gray window
before eleven others followed suit,
and within fifteen minutes or so, eight
rooks flew out, and Axum was warring
away with Ethiopia. Before long, all
my love's windows were painted white,
and many a casualty floated belly-up
in many a direction atop the curly, sliding
sea before Chloe (that's my love)
had brokered a peace; before my own
pale chimneys were powdery to touch;
before children ran and played as before.
Bio
William C. Blome writes poetry and short fiction. He lives wedged between Baltimore and Washington, DC, and he is a master's degree graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars. His work has previously seen the light of day in such fine little mags as Amarillo Bay, PRISM International, Fiction Southeast, Roanoke Review, Salted Feathers and The California Quarterly.