New Poetry by Nathaniel Sverlow

the bollard

there’s a bollard

just outside

my window

and it’s bright

as hell

and I can’t help

looking at it

as I write

I don’t remember

it being

so bright

the landlord

must have replaced

the bulb

with uranium

I fidget

with the blinds

so that a slat

might cover it

but no matter

how I place them,

they always swing

back into place

and the bollard

shines

through the madness,

mocking me

with its radioactivity

I finally give up

and close the blinds

but somehow

the bollard

shines even brighter

in my mind

I am swallowed

by white light

vaporized

in the pre-dawn quiet

victimized

by life’s obscene,

capricious mechanism

I think

I’ll take a bat

to that damn bollard

dance atop its shards

and around its twisted frame

dance in my newfound darkness

or at least complain

to the front office

let them know

they dropped a bomb

outside my window

and I don’t

appreciate it

- © Nathaniel Sverlow 2023

Nathaniel Sverlow is a freelance writer of poetry and prose. He currently resides in the Sacramento area with two cats, one incredibly supportive wife, and a rambunctious son. His previous publishing credits include Typehouse Literary Magazine, Black Fox Literary Magazine, and Black Coffee Review. He has also written two poetry books and one prose collection: The Blue Flame of My Beating Heart (2020), Heaven is a Bar with Patio Seating (2021), and The Culmination of Egotism (2022).