Atrophy / Joshua Alan Sturgill
Undersides of paving stones.
Armpit stains in a bespoke suit.
Strained and rusting girders
behind a handsome brick facade.
The hero’s heart-condition
progresses undetected.
Pharmaceuticals leach into the well.
With a bevy of lawyers present,
Essence divorces Accident,
and with a single cold,
disinterested glance asks
the fatal question.
Meanwhile, year by year
beneath the youthful blush
of her waxen mask,
Saint Angeline’s corpse
collapses into the fine dust
that makes the archbishop
so violently sneeze
All poetry and supplementary material: copyright 2025 by Joshua Alan Sturgill. All rights reserved.
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