by Cynthia Yatchman
In the Parking Lot at Sobeys, Niagara Falls, ON
In the basement office
below the mild activity
of the grocery store
My new manager explained
a death in the parking lot
from earlier that morning
Then spoke to the importance
of online commerce
I was newly eighteen
in yard sale Converse
Pulling the shovel from
the poorly painted locker
at the front entrance
I worked the snow
along the covered spots
sectioned across the lot
A customer
approached the store
and instructed me
to shovel into the snow
as if I were digging a hole
right there in the ground
I stopped and
looked around,
noticing two
unmoving crows
in the tree
Then discovered
they were two
black garbage bags—
branches like blades
inserted through the center,
holding them there
up against the weather
Cole McInerney is a poet from Niagara Falls, Ontario. He studied English at Toronto Metropolitan University. Currently, he is a MFA student at the University of South Carolina, studying poetry. His poems have been published in several print and online publications. Instagram @coleduroy.
Cynthia Yatchman is a Seattle based artist and art instructor. A former ceramicist, she received her B.F.A. in painting (UW). She switched from 3D to 2D and has remained there ever since. She works primarily on paintings, prints and collages. Her art is housed in numerous public and private collections. She has exhibited on both coasts, extensively in the Northwest, including shows at Seattle University, SPU, Shoreline Community College, the Tacoma and Seattle Convention Centers and the Pacific Science Center. She is a member of the Seattle Print Art Association and COCA (Center of Contemporary Art). Instagram: Cynthia Yatchman Art.