Susan Steudel - Red Dice

Cradling fire in cupped hands.
A wet bird. A thimbleful
of water.

Yellow jackets
on stem of fireweed.
A crosshatched tweed dress suit,

silk undergarments.
A dollar at the bottom of a pond.
Drumroll practice. Velvet

ropes on brass posts.
A fire-alarm part. Photographs
left in developing fluid,

overexposed streamside
thistles. Double sixes
at the coin-op

laundry. Billowing cloudscapes.  
A slim chance
of rain.