PATHETIC FALLACY
A buckeye tree high-fives me, shameless
on my predawn tramp home, dropping nut-brown seeds
that clack prestissimo on the sidewalk.
I crack one open. Mildly toxic,
the pollen gossips about the runner
rippling up ahead. The wind wolf-whistles
and the sun winks
out as my phone lights up: She’s gone.
Leaves pummel my windowpanes
with self-multiplying fists. Rain
floods my basement, carrying off
the washer and dryer. Gone. I pin my clothes
to the line. The t-shirts flutter
threadbare, impatient for the sun to butt in.
Kurt David is a current MFA candidate at The Ohio State University and former Macrorie Fellow at Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School of English. Before moving to Columbus, he taught at a public high school and agitated for social and climate justice as part of his teachers union. Also, he ran a queer book club called Reading Rainbow. His work has appeared in Foglifter, Gulf Coast, and elsewhere.
