Bildungsroman
"Ecumenical" painting by Michael Moreth
by Seth Hagen
I was a cabinetmaker commissioned
To construct the King’s sex chair.
I was a maypole flag wet with June dew
I was half-mouse, half-toad.
Like a dog now paraplegic
I wore a bright coat.
Like a dog now paraplegic
I wheeled on.
A room. A braided rug. Two doors.
One half-open, the other half-closed.
Like a spoonbill splayed
And two owls in a mangled oak.
Like a magnificent tail foaming silver.
Like a silver firework smudged to smoke.
Like the echo of smoke ribboned by wind.
Seth Hagen has works forthcoming in DIAGRAM. Previously, he has published in the fields of literary studies and tax law. He lives in Atlanta where he teaches English.
Michael Moreth is a recovering Chicagoan living in the rural, micropolitan City of Sterling, the Paris of Northwest Illinois USA.
