Welcome to “Poetry at The Arts Fuse.” A new poem every Thursday.

 

Alibi

I was not there and I did not see it
As you see from this pen and these inkstains
I was occupied elsewhere

 

 

If the thief
Came at night and your radar is faulty

 

If they stole
Something precious you now seem to value

 

If they froze
In their footsteps to outwit your lasers

 

If they asked
For the birds’ help
Brush cover
Dog silence

 

 

If they chose
To leave you bewildered and mapless

 

If you flail in the absence of clues

 

Such misfortune is not my affair:

Let us pity
The agents you sent to unscramble
Enigma

 

They are lost
As they puzzle to cipher
These fast-fading inkblots

 

Laura Sheahen divides her time between the East Coast of the USA and the north coast of Africa (Tunisia). Her poems have been published in Four Way Review, The Manhattan Review, Stirring, The Interpreter’s House, and other journals in the US and UK. She has traveled widely in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East as a writer for international charities. She is researching Amazigh (Berber) literature from North Africa.

 

Note: Hey poets! We seek submissions of excellent poetry from across the length and breadth of contemporary poetics. See submission guidelines here. The arbiter of the feature is the magazine’s poetry editor, John Mulrooney.

— Arts Fuse editor Bill Marx