Of Fortress and Haunt

 After “Cleopatra,” a sculpture by Clara Hoag, Fired Clay, Oxide Wash, 21.5” x 7.5” x 8.5,” 2016.

Day is hollowing

a nightmare, 

a head 

with city atop: 

no hair, 

no eyes, 

no ears,

only a nose and a mouth. 

What to say.

By the foundation, 

something perched, 

pinned,

something seeped 

free, 

a voice in this 

darkened landscape.  

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About the author

Daniel Lassell is the author of Spit (Michigan State University Press, 2021), winner of the 2020 Wheelbarrow Books Emerging Poetry Prize selected by G. Calvocoressi, as well as a chapbook, Ad Spot (Ethel Zine & Micro Press, 2021). His recent poetry appears in the Southern Humanities Review, River Styx, Birmingham Poetry Review, The Pinch, and Prairie Schooner. Growing up, he raised llamas and alpacas on a farm in Kentucky. Today, he lives with his family in Colorado. Visit his website at www.daniel-lassell.com.