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"Sirens"by Remi Recchia



Too many sirens

today. Blood-colored

warning streaked through

the window blinds.

Blue shards intact.

Will the chase

scene stop for

the squirrel? Early-

morning walk last

year, a mouse

dead on sidewalk

slab. Decomposed mid-

smile. Whiskers poised

or posed—maybe

to smell his

own last breath.

What was it

she said. She

said don’t come

home. Or maybe

don’t come home

too late. But

anyway I am

not home. Outside

cold this time

of year. What

do the sirens

chase. The anvil

in my head

is too old

for this warning.

My pockets shiver.

Already the heat

bill too high.

I can’t stand

this emptiness inside

myself. Sirens will

use too much

gas. I am

either not enough

or too much.

A man never

smiling or frowning,

just brinking interruption.

Extinction? I don’t

remember what she

said. Important. I’m

sure it was

important. How many

days pass while

I try to

catch sirens on

my windows. Sometimes

they snag against

the curtain like

a rabied-seagull

at the beach.

Seagulls aren’t really

wild, but they

used to know

someone. Who was

it they knew.

I think we

knew the same

person. Am I

outside or inside?

Is my brain

a sound? Liquor’s

siren call cold

against my cash.

My warm body

a warning. Did

she say don’t

come home? The

burn mark carpeting

my floor despite

unrelenting siren waves.

A something-burn.

The tornado curtain

call is soon.

Bomb shelter at

the ready—no,

that’s the wrong

emergency. But it’s

all the same,

really. We deal

& we drink

& we hide

our receipts. We

lose our coats

in the dark.






Remi Recchia is a trans poet and essayist from Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is a PhD candidate in English-Creative Writing at Oklahoma State University. He currently serves as an associate editor for the Cimarron Review and as Book Editor for Gasher Press. A five-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Remi’s work has appeared in World Literature Today, Best New Poets 2021, Columbia Online Journal, Harpur Palate, and Juked, among others. He holds an MFA in poetry from Bowling Green State University. Remi is the author of Quicksand/Stargazing (Cooper Dillon Books, 2021) and Sober (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2022).

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