The Seagull’s 238th Seguidilla

I suspect the genesis
Of many a gull
Poet goes something like this:
Language is a tool
For introspection,
That becomes clear; a desire
For self-connection

Blossoms. The diary is os-
Tensibly the place
To start. After a certain
Amount of entries,
They find the deformed
Children of Narcissus and
Neurosis have stormed

Their pages. Compared to what
Had sparked so much hope
In words, these are sand. But rath-
Er than giving up
On their quest or los-
Ing faith in marks, they turn from
Their oceans of prose.

A Duplex Only Turns 74 Twice

‘All professions are conspiracies against the laity‘
George Bernard Shaw, The Doctor’s Dilemma

“Nothing exists from which no good comes,” it said.
“What do you mean?” I asked. With a tender click,

The night was tightly closed. “I mean nothing
Exists from which no good comes.” “Even war?”

“Even war,” it said. In a tight close-up,
The hour began to look like a black-eyed

Houri of paradise. “Even death?” I asked.
“Especially death.” “Who are you?” “I am

That iamb,” it said. Who am I to kill
A subtle brilliance? “And,” it said, “your sister.”

“I have a sister? I have a sister!”
When you have a sister, no bruising is

Unexplained; this darkest of medical
Maxims makes the goodness of nothingness plain.

Jake Sheff is a pediatrician and veteran of the US Air Force. He’s married with a daughter and a crazy bulldog. Poems, book reviews and short stories of Jake’s have been published widely. Some have even been nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology and the Pushcart Prize. A full-length collection of formal poetry, “A Kiss to Betray the Universe,” is available from White Violet Press. He also has three chapbooks: “Looting Versailles” (Alabaster Leaves Publishing), “The Rites of Tires” (SurVision) and “The Seagull’s First One Hundred Seguidillas” (Alien Buddha Press).

You can find more of Jake’s work here on Ink Pantry.