“I see my writing on imagination and on war as continuous. Or rather, the two subjects are essentially locked in combat.”

Can residents who paint or draw
display art in the lobby?
No, their art might be ugly.

A ginkgo leaf like a splayed ass

A begonia leaf is a pebbled surface
          green and burgundy

A long and narrow leaf curls down

All the different methods
          of extending yourself so the sun
          might better touch you

Serrated edges of the teardrop
          nettle leaves

sting your fingers

The nursery labels everything
          and so assigns appearances
          to names I only know from fiction

A man in long shorts had a tiny dog
he tossed into the leaves piled at the edge 
of people’s yards, the dog