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January 10, 2023

AT THE CLUB HE ASKS IF YOU WANT TO DANCE AND YOU SAY, NO THANKS, BUT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR MY NEW POEM, I CALL IT OCEAN OF FIRE

Irene Cooper

SUN SETS LIKE A FLAMING PLUM

PUDDING, THE SAME HARD SAUCE. REVERSELY

AND FAR NORTH, WHITE POPLAR WEDS THE COMMON

POPLAR, TRANSFORMING TO POPLAR THE GRAY, YET

UNWELCOME IN CONNECTICUT, A CREEP.

VIGGO, NOW FRANK, ENACTS CENTAURUS

WITH HIDALGO, SAVAGE MUSTANG, IGNOBLE,

RIDING TO OUTRUN THE ECHO OF ANNIHILATION,

DELIVERED. WHO RE-SEEDS THIS DESERT

AND WHAT COLOR IS THE RAIN, OUR SAVIOR, OUR SPRING

BLEATING, O, BILLY, DON’T BE A HERO, DON’T

Irene Cooper’s writings appear in The Feminist Wire, phoebe, Denver Quarterly The Rumpus, Witness, and elsewhere. She wrote Found, crime noir set in Colorado, Committal, poet-friendly speculative spyfy about family, and spare change, finalist for the Stafford/Hall award. She teaches in community and supports AIC-directed creative writing at a regional prison in Oregon.