[POETRY]

[11/12/25]

Even the Animals Are Sad Today

FIVE POEMS FROM PART OF THE BEAST by Brad Liening

I.

Spreading the picnic blanket
Trying not to get it
In the pool of blood that just keeps growing
Dodging stupefaction like poison darts
Fired from blowguns with extended clips
You could’ve helped
I’m about to say
As I reach for a beer and fall into a tiger trap

II.

Even the animals are sad today
If it can be said that animals have feelings
Which many scientists say it can’t
Before eating them
There are days when all is projection
Turned back upon itself
And every part is the worst and hardest part
When weeping is insufficient
And all of us deserve to squirm
And be forgotten
Except by whatever entities own our debt
Late fees delivered by drone to our mass grave

III.

Mom and Dad tell us about their wedding
On a black hill at reddest sunset
As our elected representative is led away
To the many-headed hydra
Whose many heads vomit sequentially
We hold our collective breath for a miracle
The rat in our basement writes a sonnet
But it isn’t any good

IV.

Tortured souls rend themselves unironically
In the bottom quarter of our dreams
By the bus stop
Smudged and greasy
An adult super fucked up on drugs unable to stop
Sucking their thumb
It is extremely important not to regret being alive
To not let misplaced faith from beyond the grave
Ruin today
The dark-eyed junco
Hopping atop a small mound of gray ice
Scoured smooth by wind in the dollar store parking lot
The greatest thing that ever happened to me in my entire life
And the theory of increasing misery
Not feeling very theoretical

V.

You’re dripping a stranger says to me
And I am it is the age of foreboding
And slouching onto your tailbone
And like a disgusting philanthropist
I throw away ruined underwear in public places
But no one notices there’s already too much world
Litter flags leaves birds stains scorched foil
Old tampons receipts cars full of garbage
The mansions section of the newspaper and hot moms and dads
All trying to hold up against the age of accumulation
Of trying really hard
Save us Our Lady of Perpetual Headaches
Every time we suffer the church gets a quarter

BRAD LIENING is a poet living in Minneapolis, MN, and at bradliening.blogspot.com.