i couldnt say no when trevor turned
the storage shed into an altar
where he shifted objects and ignited
the coleman lantern never letting
the flame rise too high there were
french playing cards and viceroys
at the start after awhile we played
poker for clothes when i still
understood nothing of the world
unable to imagine what two naked boys
could do but chuckle and fart
he would think of stupid games
like Report Card or Uncles Lesson
or Kept After School tell me to watch
jesus heart wrapped in garlands
of thorn and flame or our blessed virgin
mother images taped to the wall
while i bent across his lap or clutched
my ankles looking back it was astonishing
how he summoned the elements melodically
spontaneously casting a spell i tried
to disengage as blows returned me
to my bone cage noticing details
that never caught my attention before
the rich magnificent layers of refuse
that turned our clubhouse into a kingdom
of spider nest and ghost eggs clusters
of slick shining hatchlings that could fill
your body in a day spit paper dwellings
for wasp and hornet shriveled purple
cadaver of what might have been
a rabbit or raccoon or possum before it lost
to teeth or time its too easy to say
it was not so bad the tingle i felt
or wisdom i bring with me now
to the bed the bar the alley the warm
wet dock houses with jewel eyed
invisible witnesses hushed
comfort of surf you never felt the cold
dread in your gut when trev showed up
ringing your doorbell over and over
determined to deliver the beating
you always knew was coming
Christopher Stephen Soden received his MFA in Poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts in January of 2005. He teaches craft, theory, genre and literature. He writes poetry, plays, literary, film and theatre critique for sharpcritic.com and EdgeDallas. Christopher’s poetry collection, Closer was released by Rebel Satori Press on June 14th, 2011. He received a Full Fellowship to Lambda Literary's Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices in August 2010. His performance piece: Queer Anarchy received The Dallas Voice's Award for Best Stage Performance. Water and A Christmas Wish were staged at Bishop Arts and Radio Flyer and Every Day is Christmas. In Heaven. at Nouveau 47. Other honors include: Distinguished Poets of Dallas, Poetry Society of America's Poetry in Motion Series, Founding Member, President and President Emeritus of The Dallas Poets Community. His work has appeared in: Rattle, The Cortland Review, 1111, Peculiar, Briar’s Lit, Typishly, F(r)iction, G & L Review, Chelsea Station, Glitterwolf, Collective Brightness, A Face to Meet the Faces, Resilience, Ganymede Poets: One, Gay City 2, The Café Review, The Texas Observer, Sentence, Borderlands, Off the Rocks, The James White Review, The New Writer, Velvet Mafia, Poetry Super Highway, Gertrude, Touch of Eros, Gents, Bad Boys and Barbarians, Windy City Times, ArLiJo, Best Texas Writing 2.