Daniel Ames
Death by Chimney
A fierce electric current something mechanical
inhuman above the fireplace
they said to go out at night look at the chimney
a cloud of bats frenzied whipping like lines over a trout stream
the first person talked of a trapdoor, regulations and breeding seasons
the second guy a true Detroit 313 area code said no problem
he was a wrinkled old black guy probably eighty years old
got a Free Press? he said
He used two ladders to get to the top
fired up his Bic and got the job done
like all of the infiltrations and bad marriages and
hatred pure and poisoned
we can choose how we solve them
the clean, hard way or the fast, dirty way
I prefer solutions that start with a 313 area code
Bio
I am a poet living and working in Michigan. My work has been featured in Magnolia: A Florida Journal of Literary and Fine Arts, Merge, Bijou Poetry Review, Edison Literary Review, Tonopah Review, Iodine Poetry Journal, Pulsar Poetry UK, Stone's Throw Magazine and the Ambassador Poetry Project.