Lights in the Neighbor’s Yard and Last Week

Lights in the Neighbor’s Yard

Lights in the neighbor’s yard
lights in neighbor’s trees
& sensed motion near
upon this distance spreading
Sensed by large enough
an animal You
who are inside what about
this feels “safer”

Last Week

Last week in the plastic garage
the mic stand fell a thousand

turning heads to the spontaneous
object in the neighborhood

Sounds I mistake for songs
would make a long boring concert

“Our ears are now in excellent condition”

Scribbling the signal passes Loop
of currents Closing a distance

Try a fistful of leaves next says
the voice in the headphones

I think I’ll never be a musician

---

Nathan Shipley is a poet from Santa Cruz, CA. He does work for Insert Press and publishes SUDS, an audiozine for poetry and sound. His poems have appeared in Coma, GROTTO, and Recenter Press Journal.