I kept having
               the same dream
                                            every night 
                       for weeks, he said,
 
           a carnival mask
                                        of a skull, old
                   and cracked, and
                               teaming with skinks
                                                   and poppies, and then,
out of nowhere, through 
                                          the French doors, suddenly
             thrown open by the wind—
 
                                            a lone
                                death’s head
                                                      moth.

 

Jason Ryberg is the author of eighteen books of poetry, six screenplays, a few short stories, and much more. He is currently an artist-in-residence at both The Prospero Institute of Disquieted P/o/e/t/i/c/s and the Osage Arts Community, and is an editor and designer at Spartan Books. His latest collection of poems is The Great American Pyramid Scheme (co-authored with W.E. Leathem, Tim Tarkelly and Mack Thorn, OAC Books, 2022). He lives part-time in Kansas City, MO.