Devon Balwit is a poet and educator from Portland, Oregon. She has a chapbook, Forms Most Marvelous, forthcoming with Dancing Girl Press (summer 2017). Her recent poems have appeared in numerous print/on-line journals, among them: Oyez, Red Paint Hill, Timberline Review, The Journal of Applied Poetics, Vanilla Sex Magazine, Anti-Heroin Chic, The Rising Phoenix Review, Rattle, Rat’s Ass Review, and the Ekphrastic Literary Review.

“Fed Up (VII)” and “Fed Up (VIII)” are from her 10-poem chapbook, Comeuppance, currently in search of a publisher. 

Fed Up (VII)

Pretty boy gloats, chest swelling
until we fear for his buttons.
That the hard work wasn’t his
troubles him not at all.  He admires
his clean nails, buffing them
with his breath.  Ego hoisted,
he flaps to catch the boss’ eye.
Whenever the topic threatens
to leave his orbit, he strains
against his pole.  Tectonic,
we shift in our chairs.
At a later hour—soon—
the roof will fall, pinning him
beneath a girder.  We will watch
his face swelling and purpling,
and finally think him
worthy of a prize.

Fed Up (VIII)

Pretty Boy voted
for the madman,
he informs us.
Says it was time
to take America
back.  Time, he
echoes, for men
to be men and
for women to return
to their needles.
Legs wide, he crowds
his neighbors.
Even at a distance,
we notice them shift
to make room.
When the boss asks
for volunteers,
Pretty Boy’s
lowered hand
is once again
conspicuous.
We anticipate
the scissors’ snick
as we free it from
his wrist, helping
him, for once,
to lift it high.

Devon was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and grew up outside of Detroit, Michigan. To see more of Devon and her work, visit her Facebook Page.

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