[cellar and the absent doctor]

Alex Tretbar

cellar and the absent doctor
I am trying to look the same
for as long as possible
so let us pick up sticks
until the cows leave home
and the manikins descend
from the dead lawns we
lifted to the sky on piles
so when you tell me
that the subterranean air
will be better for my lungs
I am inclined to believe
that we have taken hold
of photogrammetry buttonholed

Alex Tretbar is the author of the chapbook Kansas City Gothic (Broken Sleep, 2025). As a Writers for Readers Fellow with the Kansas City Public Library, he teaches free writing classes to the community. Recent poems and essays have appeared in Kenyon Review, Narrative, and The Threepenny Review. He was incarcerated in the state of Oregon from 2017 to 2022. His photograph was taken by Anthony J. Procopio Ross.

Next (Kashawn Taylor)

Previous (Demetrius Buckley)