by Daniel Lehan
lobster telephone
because you’ve turned the phone into a lobster I have a hard time
handling its carapace, slippery as its telson thrashes and slaps air
I can hear your voice, but I can’t press my ear close to the crustacean
and to all those scrabbling legs and swimmerets
the lobster’s large claws work on lopping off my ear
its mandibles maw and its maxillipeds and antennules wriggle as I ask you
Can you turn the phone into something else? Maybe call me back on another line?
I look at its gawping eyes as its antennae whip back and forth
what else can I do but do what’s best for the lobster
I take it to the water’s edge and let go
Michael Spring is the author of five poetry books and one children’s book. His chapbook Kahlo’s Window (SurVision Books, 2023) recently won the James Tate Prize. He is a recipient of a Luso-American Fellowship from DISQUIET International. His poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, Crannog, Midwest Quarterly, New York Quarterly, Paris/Atlantic, and Spillway. He is a poetry editor for Pedestal Magazine and Flowstone Press. He lives in Brookings, OR.
Daniel Lehan studied Fine Art at Winchester School of Art, England, and later studied Art Therapy at Goldsmiths College, London. His work has been published in various print and online poetry journals including 3:AM, Whiptail, Arteidolia, star82 review, The New Post-literate: A Gallery Of Asemic Writing, Otoliths, Ink Sweat and Tears, Ballast, M58, Neon, Word For/Word, foam:e, Indefinite Space, experiential-experimental-literature, Kumquat Poetry, the delinquent, and small po[r]tions. His erasure books and texts were recently exhibited at the University of West England. www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/erasures/.