859 Years
they were singing
Ave Maria
in the streets
when the flames
leaped out
of its crown
like a scurry
of small animals
glass popping
wood hissing
from years
of accumulated
moisture
they’re calling it
a shared sadness
it’s madness
what we find
in the losing
**
If Anything, We Played Each Other
you only smoke on occasion
you smoke every day of your life
fingers caked with the cancer you’ll contract
the Turkish spices and menthol chards
your lungs draw deep
your mouth purses
saying you’ll quit tomorrow
telling me you’ll quit today
we share a Size 8 waistline
& every order of nachos
you plant kisses on my earlobes
& tuck your hands into the seat of my pants
we dance
but that’s it
you’re everything to me
a habit to pass the time
* * *
Chad W. Lutz is a speedy human born in Akron, Ohio, in 1986, and raised in the neighboring suburb of Stow. An alumna of Kent State University’s English program, Chad earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Mills College and currently serves as an assistant editor for Pretty Owl Poetry. Their writing has been featured in KYSO Flash, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, Gold Man Review, and Haunted Waters Press, was awarded the 2017 prize in literary fiction by Bacopa Review and was a nominee for the 2017 Pushcart in poetry. This is their first feature on the Fictional Café.
