[POETRY]

[04/13/26]

We’ve All Got a Job To Do

Two Poems by Spencer Eckart

Bathing with Moshi

Down to my last pair of underwear. Moshi burned the rest of our clothes. He claims the yōkai can track us if we cling to anything, but I don't know if I buy it.

He also insists that we bathe constantly—and together. If we separate, he says, they can dissipate us where we stand. That's why he's always watching me and I him.

It's been three days, and neither of us has slept a wink. I can't even remember what started this mess. Every morning at sunrise, we repaint our campervan. It's a forest green now.

Today, the walk from the bathhouse back to the van is picture perfect, cherry blossoms in full bloom. Each step I take sends up a whiff of rich earth, and for the first time since meeting Moshi, I am happy.

***

Where did he run off to?

We’ve All Got a Job to Do

Sarge radios at 3am.
“Get to the field.”
I gear up and head out.

The jeep’s waiting.
“Digger or watcher?”
“I don’t know.”

At the field,
cadets stand in rows.
Some dig,
some watch.

Sarge says,
“Dig."

I dig until
the shovel thuds—
a box.
I open it.
It has my name.
Inside, a note:
This was your idea.

I close the box,
pick up the shovel,
keep digging.

SPENCER ECKART is a poet based in Western North Carolina. His work is published or forthcoming in The Bulb Region, Resurrection Mag, Pithead Chapel, Bruiser, scaffold, and more.