By Dave Malone
Shovels nick our hipbones
while we bury our secret
in your backyard
next to your children’s guppies,
baby teeth, gold coins
from last summer’s carnival
where you turned away
from your husband
to slay balloons with me
for the bear prize
your smallest daughter
craved nearly as much as
the funnel cakes
we finished
with our fingers
and tongues
in the sugar light
between the tents
until your family
returned.
Dave Malone has contributed poems to such journals as San Pedro River Review, Plainsongs, and Front Range Review. His most recent book is You Know the Ones (Golden Antelope Press, 2017). A master’s graduate of Indiana State University, Dave lives in West Plains, Missouri, and hosts the weekly Friday Poems series on his website.
Portage Magazine 