NIGHT CRAWLERS FOR SALE

Near Brokenstraw Creek, two boys,

dirt tanned and summer scuffed,

peddle fishing worms like other children

sell cold lemonade. One boy collects

the bills, while the other reaches

into small buckets of peat moss

and soil, showing off his sharp reflexes. 

Every struggling worm he pulls

from its dark home reminds him

of night excursions, of dew-soaked

sneakers and tangled worms in grass,

of how a quick grab isn’t always fast

enough to avoid the painful,

but often, inevitable, splattered snap.

Karen J. Weyant's poetry and prose has most recently been published in The Briar Cliff Review, Chautauqua, Cream City Review, Cold Mountain Review, Mud Season Review, Rattle, and Tahoma Literary Review. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks and teaches at Jamestown Community College in Jamestown, New York.