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Codependence
He ran by the tree every day and with each passing he would reach up and touch the scar that was on either side of the branch He imagined a group of boys on their way home from school hanging on the young branch twisting it almost breaking it off but they didn’t It survived It healed The man knew he needed help when his world got so heavy that the empathy for the tree vanished and instead of…
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The House Sparrow
We were enjoying dinner alfresco and the kids were throwing bread crusts out into the street We all watched as the birds fluttered from the havens and stabbed their loot like knights jousting for a fair maiden You know that those house sparrows are invasive, my friend said Really? I asked Yeah. They were introduced in the mid-1800s to help control the caterpillar population, he said How long does…
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The Bullfighter
He was an adult and he was dying. He had not had a physical since he left his parents’ home two decades before. Cancer knows where it can live undisturbed; it moved into his esophagus. He moved back in with his parents shortly after the diagnosis. While there, he spent his days on the couch in the windowless room in the basement. In the dim, he tried to escape the passing of the days by not…
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The Giant Exhale
The winter exposes the bones of the landscape, the skeleton of the world. I have cried at the table because the meal brought me back to who I used to be. It was easier to put a dog down when I was younger; now, my proximity to death scares me. I took pictures at her funeral to prove to HR that these were actually bereavement days. My mind blurred as I read his poems. I wanted the words to bend one…
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Lazy Afternoon
In the suburbs where biblical names and their derivatives flourish and for sport we read lost-pet signs and speculate as to the animal’s demise (My favorite is coyotes) And we judge the owner’s loneliness by the size of their reward I sit out back and watch my son blow bubbles on the tree-shaded deck I find myself rooting for the bubbles as they escape on the warm summer breeze I know that once…
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Accessible Poetry Metaphor
Some people like to dress their newborns up in cute clothes pink frilly dresses blue sports team shirts funky silkscreened onesies fuzzy footsie pajamas with cute animal prints maybe a lion or an elephant or a penguin
I prefer the vulnerability of my son’s new skin against my chest the bond it creates and the risk of warm piss and shit spreading across my gut
Jason Fiskis a husband to one, a…
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The Money Artist
He loved how the paper submitted to his will folding under the pressure of his fingers Each crease held feeling Every paper pleat possessed love He hated the unappreciative after he gave his folded paper away Their indifference heightened his insecurities Unfortunately, some people were immune to his art to his skill to his creations He did find that people took him more seriously when they saw…
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It's Natural
It’s Natural
I used to think that it was silly that my dog would always bring me her toy and present it to me always so proud of herself It seemed so primal, so base I changed my mind today when I returned from Costco and started pulling items from the bag showing my wife what I’d bought And I swear my dog was staring at me as I did it Jason Fisk is a husband to one, a father to three, and a teacher to many.…
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