Edward Michael Supranowicz
King of Pentacles, Reversed
From the driver’s seat I see a man
carry a pistol down the ditch. As he raises it,
I spot a buck
lying in the grass. They both look like you. What’s he—
Bang.
Antlers,
a burning bush upon the highway. Is it heartless
to kill the suffering you’ve caused? Is it brave to kill
what wears a crown? I imagine driving to where we lived,
memory like fingerprints seared off. I watch you
from a rain-stained window, drinking coffee,
butterflying a porkchop. You look almost tame.
Somehow, I didn’t become like you,
like the man that killed our dog, not like
the wendigo from my dark dreams. Faceless,
beneath your feet,
I watch you take sips and wonder
what you feel when you’re alone, crown mounted
above the only picture of us
left in the house.
Lara Hamidi-Ismert is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. She is published in Communications in Mathematical Physics and New York Journal of Math. Lara earned a PhD in mathematics from the University of Nebraska after earning a BA in creative writing and a BS in mathematics from Pittsburg State University in Kansas. When she’s not researching quantum mechanics, she writes poetry and short fiction, acts in theatre productions, hikes with her husband, and scoops her four cats’ litter boxes.
Edward Michael Supranowicz is the grandson of Irish and Russian/Ukrainian immigrants. He grew up on a small farm in Appalachia. He has a grad background in painting and printmaking. Some of his artwork has recently or will soon appear in Fish Food, Streetlight, Another Chicago Magazine, The Door Is a Jar, The Phoenix, and other journals. Edward is also a published poet.