published September 2009

Krystal Languell is completing her MFA at New Mexico State University where she is an assistant editor for Puerto del Sol and senior editor with Noemi Press. She is the author of a forthcoming chapbook from Tilt Press entitled The Mean Particle. Other work has appeared in Eleven Eleven, DIAGRAM, Santa Clara Review and elsewhere.

Joy

by

Dug up from the back­yard
like a cat skele­ton, sur­prise like
a clang when your shovel hits hard.
There’s no prob­lem here,
only exactly what we deserve.
This clean moment we have earned
arrives & noth­ing looks a bit like death.