Mantis 21 (Summer 2023)
To Raise a Glass, or Down It
Jeff Schiff
They’ll drunk
or sun-lulled or too too
to give a good goddamn
leave their flotsam
bobbing
or snagged on windfall branches
where the draft is too shallow
for eco-conscience to prevail
or where snappers are rumored
and one dare not toe in
stuff chucked in vengeance
stuff that’s knocked or slips over gunwale
or off deck rails
commemorative hats family reunion kit
orphaned sandals
dead soldier empties
Chardonnay bottles that’ll one day wash up
messaging no one
with nothing to say
JEFF SCHIFF is the author of With light enough to braille me next ward (MAMMOTH books, 2023); They: A Letter to America; That hum to go by; Mixed Diction; Burro Heart; The Rats of Patzcuaro; The Homily