2007

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Cody Todd

 

Graffiti Ode to You, Born this Day and Thereafter

There it is in spray-paint on a wall you will bypass to school.
Among the wandering eyes of the dismissed: on honeyed flakes
saturated in spoilt milk, where two lovers float on one boat, about
a white sea. Amidst the sky, its baffling blindfold, its garrulous banner: you exist.
Amidst the coughed dead of flickering neon or glow-
sticks gnawed and drained of their fluid—

now, I want to play a new game with you.

Despite the world’s trickery and weight, measure this heaviness,
what the heart rearranges beyond repair. And they wave goodbye,
as god doesn’t care whether stars, failing flashlights, or fickle
glow-bugs are more rare. Will you remind us of the fear
we couldn’t elude? Will you remind us of lovely ruin? The wall
and its rubble crushing the young couple. This anthem

to stomp out to in our departure: Yes, we were all here too.

 

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Author’s Bio:

CODY TODD was born and raised in Denver and currently resides in Los Angeles. He earned an MFA from Western Michigan University and is currently a Virginia Middleton Fellow in the PhD program in Literature/Creative Writing at the University of Southern California. His written work has been published in Salt Hill, Grist, Lake Effect, Third Coast, The New Delta Review and elsewhere. His chapbook, To Frankenstein, My Father, is forthcoming from Proem Press.

 

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