“Tunnel,” acrylic on paper © Digby Beaumont

 

Multimodal

ear to the rail
cloud like a coiled spring
I didn’t sleep but 90 miles like that

music from the turned-off radio
a jacket with antennas in the sleeves
two hands at the end of each wrist

a puff of cloud conceals the moon’s southern edge
when I can’t tell if the temperature’s Fahrenheit or Celsius
an alphabet of numbers

my aura’s battery’s running low
as the sun’s quartet puts down their instruments
and go their separate ways

could I have walked this far
as the tracks go where no road does
as the internal compasses of long extinct mammals still guide me
running more for exhilaration than escape
smelling smoke before I see its source
before the horizon falls away as if deflated

listening to the only tree until my ear itches
my feet want to dig down but never developed that skill—
shoes for the earth’s protection, hats to keep the satellites calm

do I want the bread or what would have gone between it
a condiment for healthy hair, salt for a future storm
when the lights go out and my exhales crackle with static power
walls beyond compromise, refusing to have their heads covered

my go bag seems to wiggle, a mix of recipes and left-overs
clothes inside the same as I’m wearing
since I can’t get much thinner and still walk against the wind
as after rain I look for reflections, for a pond deep enough to wish in

 

Dan Raphael’s chapbook How’d This Tree Get In? will be published in spring of 2025 by Ravenna Press. His full-length book, In the Wordshed, came out from Last Word Press in ’22. More recent poems appear in Umbrella Factory, Concision, Brief Wilderness, Disturb the Universe and Unlikely Stories.

Digby Beaumont is a self-taught artist. His artwork has been published extensively in collaboration with writers of fiction, poetry and music. His subjects include portraits, figures, urban scenes and still lifes. He aims to convey a subject’s character, as well as a good likeness. His pictures sometimes suggest elements of a story. He uses techniques of acrylic painting, pen and ink drawing, screen printing and mixed media. Digby is also a widely-published writer. His stories and poetry have appeared in more than 100 magazines and anthologies, including The Best Small Fictions. Previously, as a textbook author, he had numerous publications, including international best sellers.