Three Poems by A.J. Huffman

Swimming in Yellow

Yellow swimsuit + ocean = sharkbite.

The strange man with an obvious death wish

on television could not have explained it

any better, and I thought, how unfortunate

that one of the most popular beach songs inspired

myself, and doubtlessly millions of other females

to buy yellow polka-dotted bikinis. 

I rush to my summer drawer immediately, yank

the suicidal fabric from its home, toss it

in the garage with the other bleached out suits

set aside for chlorinated water only.  I make a note

to pick up a new black suit or two, a color

the great white predators all but ignore. 

Then I make another note to pick

up a pair of camouflage swim trunks

to send to my ex for his birthday.  Underwater

predators confuse them for sea turtles, often

like to take a tiny bite

or two.

Color Fills the Universe

He flickers, a thick viscous light—

life-generating.  She is

kaleidoscopic cavern—

endless, formless, all-

consuming.  Their touch is

simple, studded with fierceness—

desire set ablaze.  The world burns

around them like a rainbow

whose sole purpose is to dissolve

their skin.

Tossed Salad

I hate you like a tossed salad.

A bowl full of healthy

diet-perpetuating rabbit food.

I pick at tasteless

leaves slathered in oil and vinegar. 

Fork over fork, I consume.

My inner carnivore growls

in protest.  Remains

unsatisfied.

A.J. Huffman has published twelve full-length poetry collections, thirteen solo poetry chapbooks and one joint poetry chapbook through various small presses.  Her most recent releases, Degeneration (Pink Girl Ink), A Bizarre Burning of Bees (Transcendent Zero Press), and Familiar Illusions (Flutter Press) are now available from their respective publishers.  She is a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee, a two-time Best of Net nominee, and has published over 2500 poems in various national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, The Bookends Review, Bone Orchard, Corvus Review, EgoPHobia, and Kritya.  She is also the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press.  www.kindofahurricanepress.com.