"The Instructions for Showers" and "Invisibility School"
The Instructions For Showers
Each one — different
Like all the ways to cook eggs:
Runny, Fried, Scrambled
Signals from radios, CB's
Seeking asylum from boredom
Or, desert droughts cured by
gallons
Of water or six-packs of beer
Swilled on Labor Day at Lake Havasu
With body bags more plentiful than
boats
Drifting from motel to motel
Scanning through each room manual
Only learning enough to use the shower.
Invisibility School
The swing of the open sign —
the only clue
that someone, anyone,
is here at all,
this peg leg salad
of corn, peas, onions
and their lingering smell —
like unknown actors
performing a play
in front of empty seats.
LB Sedlacek has had poems and stories published in a variety of journals and zines. Some of her poetry books are Swim (Alien Buddha Press), I'm No ROBOT (Cyberwit), Happy Little Clouds (Guerilla Genesis Press), Simultaneous Submissions (Cyberwit), and Words and Bones (Finishing Line Press). Her first short story collection, Four Thieves of Vinegar & Other Short Stories came out on Leap Day 2020 from Alien Buddha Press. She also served as a Poetry Editor for ESC! Magazine and published the free resource for poets, "The Poetry Market Ezine," from 2001-2020. In her free time, LB likes to swim, read and attempt to play the ukulele. She recommends the Caldwell Humane Society.
