A Distant Sun as a Crowbar: Janet Grillo

April 21, 2020, Kate Belew With Janet Grillo (Los Angeles)

I wondered what I could build with

twisted nails and rotted wood, could

carpenter some sort of tomorrow 

borrow yesterday's faith, the myth

of carrying this planet across the shoulders like 

an ox. Stolid, plodding, certain.

I always wanted to be certain.

Light pries through dark sky from a distant sun as 

a crowbar, both weapon and tool 

to louver the shuttered future. How I miss

staring at a calendar and believing in plans 

like blueprints, patterning a path which now

erased like dust at the mercy of a palm.