Matthew Schmidt
KEVLAR ON OUR BACKS

………………We gave ourselves matching haircuts
………but only temple rye cures. Temper
………your dog but only scaremongering
ignites crows. Shared the phobia collar
………but only in shifts. See but only gavels.
………An iris’ pillory but only a shaker of gifts.
But only our handsome freckles
divvied among avenue skin.
Truth is but only.
………We took the subway
………but only to watch. It is Monday but only in a rainforest
of scalpels. Only but a slight nick. We climb our desks
………but only to grab bananas and hide.

Matthew Schmidt is working on a PhD in English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His poems have been published or are forthcoming in 3:AM, CALAMITY, Hobart, Territory, and elsewhere. He is an associate poetry editor at Fairy Tale Review.

Image credit: Patrick Carr on Unsplash

Read more from Cleaver Magazine’s Issue #20.