The Planet of Ideal Readers

Poetry

Size / / /

F.J. Bergmann

Small arthropods, with pink eyes

on writhing yellow stalks, they are

permanently curious. They watch

one another, the road, the horizon,

the skies. Their blurring mandibles

soundlessly savor a continuous

stream of syllables. Each of them

imagines itself as the swaggering

heroine, her intestinal fortitude,

her disloyal squire, her hefty steed,

and its internal parasites—all at

the same time. They fall into more

roles endlessly: Maiden, Moth,

Chronometer, Serpent, Artificer,

Implement, Vessel, Swarm; new

configurations, paths of seeing.

They believe that there will

always be a fresh experience

ahead, another Word to come.

F.J. Bergmann frequents Wisconsin and fibitz.com and intends to go down in history as the inventor of Time Pockets. She is the author of Constellation of the Dragonfly, Aqua Regia (Parallel Press, 2007), and Sauce Robert (Pavement Saw Press, 2003). Her work has appeared in Asimov's, Mythic Delirium, Niteblade, Weird Tales, and literary journals that should have known better. She is the poetry editor of Mobius: The Journal of Social Change. You can see more of her work in our archives.