Love via a Rube Goldberg Diagram

Gregory Stapp

Love will be activated when birch tree (A)grows to a height where, when leaf (B)releases in fall and wafts down to porch (C),crow (D) is inspired to caw and to take the leafin beak (E) back to nest (F) where the leaf agesand withers into heart's shape (G)until person (H) discovers the leaf and retrieves it,taking it to lover (I) who carries the leaf to lamp (J)and they study the leaf's details together (K)until they press it between the pages of dictionary (L)and return the dictionary to shelf (M) in bedroom (N)where, inspired by shadows (O) cast by the birch treeon blinds (P), they will pull quilt (Q) from bed (R)and lift sheet (S) until there is enough air (T) beneaththat they can lie down and embrace (U) until the sheetdrifts down over them (V) and they become secludedin their own world of diffused light (W),while outside (X) two bees (Y)hover over peach tree flowers (Z).

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Gregory Stapp received his MFA from Queens University of Charlotte. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Lime Hawk, The Ekphrastic Review, and the Sierra Nevada Review.

Spring 2019

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Louisiana State University

Co-Editor & Poetry Editor
Jessica Faust

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