Poems by Leah Mueller
“High Altitude Veganism”
By Leah Mueller
Spicy
jackfruit and
black
bean tacos
on
a ceramic plate,
5500
feet above sea level.
I
say, “I read that
food
is best
at
higher altitudes,”
and,
mouth full
of
jackfruit, you agree.
I
can’t recall where
I
discovered this fact,
or
whether I
made
it up myself.
Chipotle
and jalapeno
taste
better six miles
from
the Mexican border.
Somewhere,
a coyote
sings
beneath
the
harvest moon.
Somewhere,
a cow
chews
clumps
of
sagebrush.
Pass
me another
bottle
of porter.
Life
continues apace,
despite
all our efforts
at
subjugation.
“Air
Sign Mother”
By Leah Mueller
Hung the photos of my kids on the
wall of my new house today. They’re not kids anymore. My son just turned
thirty. Daughter is twenty-four. Intense adults, melancholy in the way of their
generation, Pluto in Scorpio, Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn. Nolan is a
Capricorn and Hana is a Virgo. In one photo, Nolan grips a small rubber ball
shaped like Saturn. I got it for him at Denny’s in 1991. I accidentally threw
away the ball while our family was packing to move to another town.
Fourteen-year-old Nolan spotted his toy, dove into the Dumpster, and retrieved
it. Now, when he visits me from London, he says casually, “You know, I still
have that Saturn ball.” Hana just lost her day care job due to the Coronavirus.
She loved those kids more than she loves herself. Hana’s more sensitive than I
was at her age. I’m an Aquarius. I blow things off and intellectualize them
because it’s the only way I can cope. Also, I’m curious about everything and
like to explore. My kids always preferred to stay inside. Inside is okay, but I
need to have a choice. All my kids’ photos were taken inside, except a solitary
outdoor shot of nine-month-old Hana at a frenemy’s wedding. The ceremony was on
an island. All the attendees were hipsters. There were a couple of other
babies, both dressed in androgynous clothes. In the photo, Hana wears a hat
with a big white rose and looks pissed. She already knows the score. She
appears angrier still in the tiny cruise ship photo, clutching her favorite
Beanie Baby. I wonder why I never noticed how troubled my kids were. Troubled
just seemed normal to me. Nolan looks happiest in the Saturn ball photo. He
liked having something solid to hold on to.
- Leah Mueller is an indie writer and
spoken word performer from Bisbee, Arizona. She has published books with
numerous small presses. Her most recent volumes, "Misguided Behavior,
Tales of Poor Life Choices" (Czykmate Press), "Death and Heartbreak"
(Weasel Press), and "Cocktails at Denny's" (Alien Buddha Press) were
released in 2019. Leah’s work appears or is forthcoming in Blunderbuss, Citron
Review, The Spectacle, Miracle Monocle, Outlook Springs, Atticus Review, Your
Impossible Voice, and other publications. She won honorable mention in the 2012
Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry contest.
Copyright©2020 by Leah Mueller. All
Rights Reserved