ISSUE FOUR: March, 2020

JADE[ED] STATUE

by JADE RIORDAN

Jaded: the past tense of myself.
| would say, green with envy,
but of what? Of whom and why [not]?

|f the tra|n stops at my front door,
then home |s a stat|on
-ary object, |s sturdy and rock-sol|d.

The benches out front f|ll and empty,
f|ll and empty every quarter hour.
Ne|ghbours and commuters al|ke
redecorate the wood w|th rece|pts,
newspapers, and grocery store flyers

advert|s|ng organ|c produce
and go|ng green. As |f
my [sem|]prec|ous stone body
needed any help w|th that.

As |f | were jealous
of Granny Sm|th apples,
|ceburg lettuce, or the raw,
soft |ns|des of k|w| fru|t.

As though someone else’s
green-r|nged v|s|on could
become clouded over w|th
apathy and exhaust|on.

[                                              ].
[                                              ].

JADE RIORDAN is an Irish-Canadian poet living north of Canada's 60th parallel, but south of the territory's polar bears. Her poetry has appeared in The Blue Nib, Contemporary Verse 2, Cordite Poetry Review, The Miracle Monocle, takahē, and elsewhere.