Superposition

annalise mabe

Leaves rattle down the street

a baby shaker, an old newspaper

sludging up the sidewalk.

I am cold, the Queen

of Swords, or something

cutting—

no, just walking.

Just kidding:

I am the King

of Suwanee Street. I wish

I was more like you,

like nothing. I wish

I was

The leaves, back, driving,

slicking the suburbs mad.

Annalise Mabe is completing an MFA at the University of South Florida, where she writes nonfiction, poetry, and comics. Her work has been featured/is forthcoming in Brevity, The Offing, The Rumpus, Booth, Word Riot, Hobart, and was nominated by The Boiler for a 2016 Pushcart Prize. She reads creative nonfiction for Sweet: A Literary Confection and lives in Tampa, Florida, where she teaches composition and creative writing at USF.