I went for taro,
custard, and red bean

buns. Shrieks above
from an argument

broke my somnolence;
a gull defended the cross

it perched on from
a circling raven’s

assault. The vanquished
raven landed and

sulked. Do I call it
augury, score a win

for yang, or remember
Jeffers, who wrote, “it is bitter earnestness

that makes beauty; the mind
knows grown adult”?

This Morning by Jason Szydlik

Jason Szydlik studied poetry at City College.