Three Poems by Aaron Belz

Catalonia

We ate mermaids at Catalonia.
No really, we did. Ate them like tuna.

I saw Dr. Jiménez dart in and out of 
banana bushes down there 

like a pickpocket, a common cutpurse,
but you know what? The man

has his Ph.D., but you know what in?
Horology. No, he really does.

That provides no explanation at all
for the knife and yellow baseball cap

or the occasional insistence on treating
us all to grilled mermaids, but it does 

support his fastidious morning walk
and refusal to check his watch, ever.

That, of course, and the unicorn
neighing wistfully at the water’s edge.

Finally

Finally! I have totally forgotten about the past
and am focusing all my energy on this bowl of candy.
Meanwhile my wife is taking pictures of me
pretending as though I’m riding a unicorn to work.

A Unicorn

Here comes Karen. In a new suit.
Here comes Dan, looking tired.

Then out of nowhere, here comes my old professor
Mr. Wildeman.  He has books.

Here comes a throng of naked men.
Here come Lacy and Alice, psuedopoliticos.

I bet they got their backpacks on sale.
(All of them, I mean, not just Lacy and Alice.)

A unicorn strides gracefully into view,
behaving for the world like an Akhal-Teke.

Then, out of nowhere, here comes my sister Jane
looking around quizzically.

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Image: Camille Guthrie’s Instagram

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