DUSK PATROL

It’s been dusk on these highlands

for countless days,

stuck between noon’s visibility

and night’s exposed underbelly.

It took me a while

to accept what I can’t see:

I have a clone somewhere out there

dreaming this suspended hell’s persistence

into actuality.

I won’t be outdrawn when I find him

now that I sense

what’s invisible to my present eye,

like the nearly forgotten warmth

        of a dawn’s blood orange sky.

Paul Edward Costa (He/Him)                                                                                                                                                                

THE LEGEND OF THE GRAND INTERLOPER

The Grand Interloper,

        summoned from a sunless crevasse,

crawls over my shoulders,

says

they’d love some time to pick my brain,

says,

        If swung sweetly,

        toothpicks and icepicks fit the same,

says

        maybe I should lie down

        on account of all this bleeding,

later says, with a straight face,

        No one ever stood in this place.

Empty hills and yards

emit unconditionally effusive,

        brain-deranged praises

        in their name,

as The Grand Interloper

steps over paupers

to pose with princes of philanthropy,

advocates for free democracy

if candidates are vetted

           and pre-selected,

funds community construction projects

instantly abandoned

once their top floor touches heaven,

wears one-way glasses

with irises painted on the lenses,

        avoiding both eye contact

                               and accountability.

The Grand Interloper

raids therapy’s lexicon

for new sets of verbal weaponry,

absconds to Avalon

without facing a final battle’s fury,

and so, never knows

            the dignity in escaping

            enchanted prison towers’

            immaterial enclosures,

and the real, resultant empathy I feel

for cases of that same struggle striking others.

Paul Edward Costa is an award-winning poet, spoken word artist, organiser, and teacher. He is a former Poet Laureate for the City of Mississauga and has published many poems in journals such as NoD Magazine, DarkWinter Literary Magazine, and Blank Spaces Magazine. He’s released a book of poetry, “The Long Train of Chaos” (Kung Fu Treachery Press – 2019) and a book of flash fiction, “God Damned Avalon” (Mosaic Press – 2021). As a spoken word artist, he’s featured at many poetry series across Canada. He currently organises the monthly Outer Haven Poetry Series in Toronto’s Imperial Pub.