The Newlywed Couple Feel Some Inertia at The Falls by Melanie Browne

Inside their
whiskey barrel,
They are strange
Contortionists,

He reads To her
From Evelyn Waugh,
While she
Gouges their
Names in
linoleum
on her barstool

They hang
God's eyes
From the
damp
Housetop,

Sometimes
He goes out
To collect
The mail,

When he comes back
In he talks about rainbows
while she listens
To the clawing
Of the spray,

He unhooks her bra
Feeling her breasts
Kissing her stomach,
She is passive,
Her veil lingers
Like the vapors

Pancakes Like a Head Injury by Melanie Browne

We ordered pancakes.
He wanted strawberries,
He wanted bananas,
They brought his pancakes
To the table they were
Covered in strawberries
They were covered in bananas
He said this pancake looks
Like its bleeding will
You look at that it looks like it
Has a head injury or something
And I looked at his pancakes
I said well, you know something
I think you may be right
And he dug right in to those
Pancakes and they were
Swimming in syrup
But all I saw was the
Strawberries that still
Looked like blood to me
and I found it all a bit distasteful