Death Stale Symphony Discount

Written: April 14, 2025 for contest sponsored by Brian Strand ****************** The subject matter of this poem explores themes of transience, intersection of life and death, and the fragile coexistence of human and natural worlds. a loaf of discounted bread stale & crumbly resides in a brown paper bag teetering on a park bench a finger of cool breath _____nudges ____________the ________________bag ___________________towards ground pile of used cigarettes gathered by a trash can & an array of greasy fast food, styrofoam cups a souring banana milkshake punctured through ---a rotting apple core & an assemblage of stale and wizened McDonald's medium fries family of pigeons peck at brown paper bag-- it topples over & spills its guts across grass a swan watches from a pond --eyes peer-- from its snowy face water cushions every ounce of its body caresses every single feather sky is a petri-dish c r a m m e d with scarlet c l o u d s a young girl falls as her size four sneaker is caught on a hidden tree root swan chuckles to itself a college student bites into a decorated hot dog condiments slip his button-down shirt & a swan extends its wings a platform for sun as droplets of crystalline water sparkle off surface of each feather