Everett Jones

These Things Could Be Broken

The cup is only being filled for the chance to have it spilled. — Robert Pollard
 

The dripping tap, sticky door, cracked
mug. Paint chipping from the
wall. Wallpaper leaving. Dead
light bulbs, torn carpet, scratchy
DVDs. Vases, glasses, bones, hearts,
fingers. Ligaments, cartilage,
sticks, rafters, foundations, homes,
bottles. Polished metal that loses
its shine with time. Planets that drift
away from the sun. The Earth (for different reasons
altogether), potholes, foxholes, organized devotion,
sinkholes, bullet holes. The tiny, irritated red spots
on our faces we try to cover up. The mail truck
our postmen have been driving since World War II. The ripped
pages of an old textbook. A bill, a law, a bible.

Everett Jones is a senior in the creative writing program at Salisbury University. Born and raised in Carroll County, Maryland, his work is heavily inspired by alternative music and strange people.