Small Complaints

Evan James Sheldon

I hate this bulging foreign winter       beneath my skin.       If I could stop moving sideways I

think everything would       be okay. A fireplace is a city, but a campfire has       gravity. We mull

around the flames       like sparks, floating away       when we get too hot, only       to come

right back. It is uncomfortable       too near any fire, but too cold       if you move away.

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Evan James Sheldon’s work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Spelk, Roanoke Review, and Poetry Super Highway, among others. He is a junior editor for F(r)iction.