Unmade Beds and Butterflies by John L. Stanizzi

          -after "Unmade Beds and Butterflies" by Margaret Lehr (Germany 2025)

midnight hangs on by a thread
the night we just passed has a hole in it
and light whistles across the slippery floor

you've left me with rumpled sheets
and a mirrored ceiling fallen on the rug
how could anyone clean up such a mess

you departed without shoes
the wind rushed through the open window
leaving puddles
and newspaper clippings featuring stories
about the maladies of the evening’s festivities
here in the aftermath of helpless lace wings
and rumors multiplying like milkweed



John L. Stanizzi is the author of 15 collections, including Chants and POND. Besides Red Eft Review, he has had work published in Cortland, Rattle, Prairie Schooner, New York Quarterly, and others. Coventry, CT’s Inaugural Poet Laureate, John is a former New England Poet of Year and Wesleyan University Etherington Scholar.