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The Weird Year

Then came drought like a hammer
our victory garden tomatoes split
then wizened like turds

Recrudescent mottled moths
broad as leatherwing bats
emerged soapy from the dishpan

Bracket fungus the size of a horse's head
erupted overnight in a great greasy
effusion staining the lawn

Wildfires, winds, high water, hurricanes
the air pulsed with praying mantises
long-knitted scars loosened and bulged

In the mornings, we gathered up gray hair and ashes
sprouting from the shower drain
materia medica for the next plague

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Erica A. Fletcher works in biomedical research in Boston. Her poems have been published in Green Ink Poetry, Sky Island Journal, Hawk and Whippoorwill, Uppagus, Silkworm, and The Writers' Cafe Magazine. She has played in the rock band Nurse & Soldier since 1997. She can sometimes be found on Twitter at @ericafletcher.