Flies

A swallow flies—almost floats, I am told.
A fly swallows, steels itself, and lays
her eggs on meat that has grown old.

A man eating such meat swallows flies,
or fly babies, which are worm-like.
His droppings will contain foreign stuff,

but this is really nothing to worry about.
He can still go out and watch swallows
floating, dropping down behind a boat’s

silhouette, still conjecture on the shape
of the night as docked yachts emit murky
clanks and the bay sparkles with light.

Aaron Belz’s second collection of poems, Lovely, Raspberry, was published in April by Persea Books. He lives in the Los Angeles area. You may learn more about Aaron Belz at his website.