Ramshackle Review

Two Poems by Darryl Price


Dolphins

want you to know what you already
know-you were made for this from
water that caught you as you fell
from the sky. The stars missed you fiercely

and the moon hid you from their
terrible teeth with her softly
washing hair. Even if there are
high beings they sail on joyful

saucers, rimmed with lights that hum and
thrum foaming like guitars made for
beautiful fingers; no matter,
they'd probably enjoy Bowie.

Look! They're holding hands constantly
while balancing on one leg each;
they're all waving directly to
you; they're out stepping on their own

shadows begging you to see the
oneness at the horizontal
end of the world; they are waiting
like little bird look-outs squeezing

just behind an elephant's ear
for day that lies ahead; and they
are not afraid to shut both eyes
and lay awake; they leave leaves everywhere.

072810



The Ubiquitous Urn

For the walls of rain
we traced our hands like fireworks together
once on, I say this
poem shall stay there, for all those grand loud

insect buzzings we
attended to like the biggest fans in
the world, want this song

to last. How trite to
remember we had promised to memorize
the moments while
secretly we kissed in the dark with nothing

left but our warm
lips and groping hands to tell us we were
even there. I showed

you among untold
millions of switching off and on fireflies
I would just always
loyally want you. But that was talk of

flying then when what
you wanted was for me to prove something
I was ill prepared

to do. Free my mind.
I thought your breasts were mystery enough.
You got in a car
wreck with him. I drove to school the next day.

You'll never grow any
older now, but I've already seen
enough ghosts like you.




Darryl Price was born in Kentucky and educated at Thomas More College. A founding member of Jack Roth's Yellow Pages Poets, he has published dozens of chapbooks, including a dual chapbook with Jennifer Bosveld, founder of Pudding House (the largest literary small press in America), and had poems in journals including The Bitter Oleander, Cornfield Review, Allegheny Poetry, Wind, Out of Sight, Paper Radio, The West Conscious Review, Pudding, Metazen, Cap City Poets, Doing It, Prick of the Spindle, Olentangy Review, Fourpaperletters, LITSNACK, Like Birds Lit and The Green Fuse.