Having Lost the Battle
by Brooklyn Copeland

Yes, I’m feeling between-the-wars.

In alleyways my allies are laying
posy rings to soften my fall. My arms, as I swing them,

are like planes

that were shot from the sky. My shins throb with the weight

of my step,
ever-lurching, ever-bracing just in time. I want to roll myself

cigarette-tight, prop my body against this dumpster
like a bayonet, just to get it out of the way, like

a dummy stuffed with straw, and duds and blanks

and malfunctions. I’m feeling if only I could
die first, then I could awaken, yes,

refreshed, prepared to alight.

Brooklyn Copeland was born in Indianapolis in 1984. She has also lived in Florida and throughout Northern Europe. Online, her poems are recently published in issues of At-Large, blossombones, Right Hand Pointing, Sir! and Sub-Lit. Her electronic chapbook, The Milk for Free (2008) is available from Scantily Clad Press. She is the co-editor of Taiga Press, which prints Taiga and the Tundra Chapbook Series.

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