Ed Taylor

SCARECROW

There was a solid citizen. Thanks to high school, he may have been one to watch. Then came wife, house, firepit, grass, leaves, receipts, gum disease, and the attempt to stand up without a crutch. Waking finally one day he told the children, swim for your lives. He spent more time outside, shoveling, looking for something but needing newer glasses, cutting himself on the tools, staking something out. At dinner, he kept digging till he hit bone. Then he shoved away from the table, saying, I’m stuffed. Birds exploded in the window.

ED TAYLOR is the author of the novels Theo and the forthcoming Sebastian’s Ladder, a 2022 “Triple” from Ravenna Press, the poetry collection Idiogest, and three poetry chapbooks. His poetry and prose have appeared in American, Canadian, Australian, and British periodicals and anthologies, including Stand (UK). His most recent multimedia performance work was the 2020 one-act play Black Nikes.