black beans for dinner . . .
I didn’t go outside of
the shelter today

—

rain on warehouse roof . . .
orange Fanta frenzy at
the homeless shelter

—

middle of the night . . .
the shelter’s vending machine
declines debit card

—

sips of a cold Sprite
outside of the laundromat . . .
ambulance sirens

—

today they will spray
the homeless shelter for bugs—
popcorn in my shoe

bio/graf

J. D. Nelson is the author of ten print chapbooks and e-books of poetry, including Cinderella City (The Red Ceilings Press, 2012). His first full-length collection is in ghostly onehead (Post-Asemic Press, 2022). Visit his website, MadVerse.com, for more information and links to his published work. Nelson lives in Colorado, USA.