“Late” and “King of Quiet”

by Ethan Sparks

Late

Where once 

opened and welcome

smoke tilted towards

her neck, 

now adrift,

her neck

pale and raw

hints at clean 

and settled patchouli.

His lying

is getting to me.

King of Quiet

Down the street

Where king and quiet meet

Belt loose and

Warm echo on stale 

Milk carton flies

August inner ear

And buzzing

A perfect heat and 

Handprint recedes

From spilled red

Beneath table

And warm bed

I’ll stroke your missing hair

The flap of scalp 

The love leaking from you.

Ethan Sparks is a graduate of UCSD's MFA program in Creative Writing. He also holds a Masters in Teaching from USC. His work has been featured in the Allegheny Review and the Birds in Shorts City series. He has taught writing at UCSD and currently teaches High School English in Phoenix, Arizona, where he also runs the LGBTQ and Newspaper clubs.