Three Poems by Ben Nardolilli

 

A Poem in Residence

Everyone else gets to be a disruptor,

Why not me?  Let me waddle into the middle of midtown

And flash brightly in these dark domains

Between the towers and the crowds

I can erupt, carrying colors and patterns of flora and fauna

Amidst huddles of black and blue

My campaign will not be restrained,

The shadows of steakhouses will have to accept me,

Shorts and all, as I fiddle with silverware

And in the museums, I will keep it up,

Strolling through the silent galleries like a flattened flame,

Until I find a work I can weep in front of

Still Saving Changes

Rather long time waiting

to say challenge accepted

would prefer a declaration

but telling can be showing

seizing rumors of a sunrise,

or a straggling sunset claim

get that new route unfurled,

the end goal wide-released

a finish line in theory, even 

if it is not yet in its focus

Metaphysical Engine Artifact

Where's my gravely sonorous narrator?

The voice I've been using in my head

is useless, the present bite needs to unfold

more like a documentary

and less like a ramble through the days

Holding stray thoughts off the page

and screen is like trying to conduct a herd

of ungrateful creatures.

I've done my best and I think insights

come through, but I'm just a tired juggler

I might try auditions, or . . . I could steal,

anything to get these innertube lines

to come out of someone else's lazy mouth,

I want to finally focus on living

instead of the bother of personal reflection

Ben Nardolilli is a scrivener and a theoretical MFA candidate at Long Island University.  His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Door is a Jar, The Delmarva Review, Red Fez, The Oklahoma Review, JMWW, Quail Bell Magazine, and Slab.  Follow his publishing journey at mirrorsponge.blogspot.com and on Instagram @ssenjaminnardolilli.