3 Poems by Maryfrances Wagner

Cricket Nocturnal

He preens all afternoon,
cleans his leafy burrow,
then sits with it, hoping
she’ll enter after dusk.
His first notes sputter,
smoky scrapes, clipped,
until he settles into his trill,
marking and scraping,
each song longer before he
pauses. She hears the call,
but wavers, decides to wait
for a more seductive call,
but by ten, he’s keening, his legs
now rusty noisemakers.
He spurts two sharp trills
then is done. He will tune up
for the next night’s serenade
with a better tune
to change her mind.

Danielle Dances in a Mosh Pit

What did you do
last weekend?

You probably
sharpened pencils

or bought
new red pens.

I’m only
kidding.

Me and Carly went
to a headbanger

and danced
in a mosh pit.

We were the only
girls in there.

The guys
wore chains

and had
tons of ink.

Carly dislocated
her shoulder,

and someone
with steel boots

kicked me
in the eye.

It was
so cool.

 

Tout Le Monde

A lone ant
tucked inside

a peony
cannot imagine

a larger
universe.

 

Bionote

Maryfrances Wagner’s newest books are Solving for X and The Immigrants New Camera. Her book Red Silk won the Thorpe Menn Book Award and was first runner up for the Eric Hoffer Award. She is a co-editor of I-70 Review, is president of The Writers Place, was Individual Artist in 2020 for the Missouri Arts Awards, and served as Missouri Poet Laureate from 2021-2023.