two poems

by Danielle McMahon

I am, sir, yours,

A Frankenpo(em).  Sources: 

Lincoln, Mrs. D. A. Carving and serving. Cambridge, University Press, 1890, pp. 19. 

& 

Lamb, Charles. The Dramatic Essays of Charles Lamb. New York, Dodd, Mead and Company Publishers, 1891, pp. 121-132.

Cut off the head, Old Serpent

)the sweet human voice

exposed

Oh! Mr. Reflector,

I am one of those persons,

the wild creatures )fond of the palate,

the critic's tongue,

the voice of the charmer

So cut off the head

)I should weary you & myself too

)I was found guilty

I am, sir, yours

)a heap of dust and ashes

& precious morceaux of wit

served whole to those who desire it

The Windows

Cut/paste poem.  Source:  Bradbury, Ray.  “The Pedestrian.”  Adventures in American Literature.  Eds. John Gehlmann and Mary River Bowman.  New York:  Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1958,  pp. 122-126.

He was alone in this world, with only his shadow moving gray & silent on moonlit avenues.  )It really made no difference.

There was nothing soft there.(  As he went,

sudden gray phantoms might click & blaze under electric eyes.

)A great insect rustling, puttering through the silences, the faint push(  a needle thrust through the chest.

)Through the night avenues, the moon was,

& the houses were.(

Within moon-white houses,

The people sat like the dead, ill-lit by television light, still, undrawn against the night,

touching expressionless faces  )but never really touching them(  stunned

& high & clear among the stars, the lights’ skeletal pattern

entered out into that silence & the faces like tombs all stone & moon radiance

)the whistling chill, the cold light going on & off.(

Before him, every window a loud illumination.

He got in  )not unlike a night moth( 

as good as alone.

BIO: Danielle McMahon is the author of Cold rain in Pittsburgh (Bottlecap Press, 2024), The Oracle’s Voicemail (Alien Buddha Press, 2024), The TV Guide (Alien Buddha Press, 2024) and a micro-chap titled insecure lovesong (Maverick Duck Press, 2024).  Her micro-chap rowhouse song is forthcoming in the 2025 Ghost City Press Summer Series.  Danielle also runs a litmag called the engine(idling @ engineidling.net (Bluesky ‪@the-engine-idling.bsky.social‬). Her chapbook irl is forthcoming from Stanchion Books in 2026.  Danielle can be cound on Bluesky @dehm000.bsky.social.