Sub Herbia

Thomas Quitzau

July 17, 2021

In search of crotchety studies 

Longing for more heavy talk 

Striding by a summer sidewalk 

We lie in lieu of pell-mell buddies.

Forks for the new tilled grass

Of suburbia, sprinkle cleaned

Rolled like pot smokers never weaned 

Electronically stabled en masse.

Unheard unseen as we walk about 

Ghost towns left in silence for owls 

Factions frayed dusted in drought

In Anotherville, in Anothercourt, scowls.

Forays frown on Fortune’s diet

Clowns accuse news of feisty rumors

June bugs, bats, and streetlights riot

Chemo spells in waiting rooms fighting tumors.

In the midst of all these First-World mirages 

As we feel the heat from grills and garages 

Sprawl me to the pinnacle, salt me pessimistic 

Pepper me cynical, or at least antagonistic.

Thomas Quitzau is a poet and teacher who grew up in the Gulf Coast region and who worked for over 30 years in Houston, Texas. A survivor of Hurricane Harvey, he recently wrote a book entitled Reality Showers, and currently teaches and lives on Long Island, New York with his wife and children.