"Occiput" and "Red Code Warning"
Occiput
Rung of a ladder
young ladies with frizzy
hair, the forehead, the
upper half of the
skull all exposed all
there underneath the ladder
step
grade
lever
we climb to the
top
by
any
means
necessary
Red Code Warning
Rainstorms
and
mountain views
from
hospital rooms
sliding across drugstore
floors
buying medicine
and peanut butter
cookies
after a trip to
urgent care
those instructions on
prescription bags are
hard to read
you can give
yourself a headache
with the warnings
not as prevalent
or
cautionary
as a storm warning
lightning
struck
you can be hit by
lightning
and
survive
every day we are
all struck
just a little
bit
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.
