how the desert breaks
into a sweat at night,

 how the silk of sand
is knotted with burrs

 how certain butterflies in Africa
can poison a cat

 how they say they found
“buckling” water on the moon

 edible gold flowers
white chocolate chips

 grape nuts
(which are neither grapes nor nuts)

 how, before his death, my father said he
was abducted in Bolivia for seeding revolt

 how yours, a scientist in Michigan, said he
could control weather by speaking in tongues

Elizabeth Cohen is a poet, mama and dog mama living in Albuquerque. Her work has been published in Patterson Review, River Styx, Yale Review and Kalliope, among other places. The author of two books of poetry and two chapbooks, she has an MFA from Columbia University.