Christopher Morgan

The villagers took hammers
to the black mountain.
Broke the granite
until it was barely alive.
Made an example
of its rocky skin, carried
home in suitcases.

Just after the air came alive
with hunger. Birds fell
in clumps, softly pattering
the ground. Deer shrieked,
terrified whistles. Vegetables
and fenced fruit rotted. Wells
soured. Cattle dropped
where they stood. Eyes sprouted
where clouds had been.
It was a bad night
for sunsets — that night
it almost didn’t happen.
The sky locked its gaze
upon the villagers
during the whole procession.
Atop the earth’s ridged spines,
the town began to rumble.
The suitcases poured forth stones.
And each stone sought out a man.

CHRISTOPHER MORGAN is the author of “Shadow Songs” (Sad Spell Press 2015) and the Co-Manager of Nostrovia! Press. He grew up in Detroit and the Bible Belt of Georgia, before settling in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he received his M.A. in Creative Writing and American Lit. The Reviews Coordinator for Alien Mouth, he also edits for tNY Press and Arroyo Literary Review. He loves fables, hiking in the redwoods, and happy hour margaritas.