by Douglas Richardson
Anticipating a pleasant evening
filling eclairs in the bakery
I set off on the freeway
satisfied in my own company
but a sudden swerve with violent whiplash
compels me into the pipes and flares
of the oil refinery
where I swear I see
mingling with its anatomy
a plague doctor from the 17th century
black beak
Black Death
black piano key
black thorn in humanity
I chase but he evades me
I reason but he goads me
I dare not tell a soul
Douglas Richardson is a poet and novelist who lives in Santa Ana, California, with his wife Jen and cat Wes. His poetry has been published in The American Journal of Poetry, Anti-Heroin Chic, Black Poppy Review, Cajun Mutt Press, Hobo Camp Review, The Nervous Breakdown, The New Verse News, Straight Forward Poetry, Trouvaille Review, and Poetry Super Highway. In 2013, he won the Poetry Super Highway contest with his entry, “Notes from the Graveyard Shift.”