Of a Story
D Eric Parkison

Woke before the others, went outside.
The small dog wheeled off nosing the yard.

Squash vine fraying on the ladder,
Basil whitening in rusted water,

The peppery scent of scratched dirt.
How good: this moonless summer night.

D. Eric Parkison is the author of No Arcadia, released in 2020, and recipient of a 2022 Massachusetts Cultural Council grant in poetry. His work recently appears in Swannanoa Review, Red Rock Review, and Belletrist Magazine. He is programming director at the Gloucester Writers Center and lives in Lynn, MA. Find him at deparkison.com.