Poem by Chad Parenteau

Room

Elephant
with you
lunges
for toes,

begs for
stage of
the room
address.

Terrible
people
wait for
your wince.

That's just
what those
with weight
will do,

trample
over selves
as you leave
mouse-like,

celebrate
new wealth,
clean each
other's bones.

About the author

Chad Parenteau hosts Boston’s long-running Stone Soup Poetry series. His work has appeared in journals such as Résonancee, Molecule, Cape Cod Poetry Review, Tell-Tale Inklings, Off The Coast, Ibbetson Street and Wilderness House Literary Review. He is a contributor to Headline Poetry & Press and serves as Associate Editor of the online journal Oddball Magazine. His second collection, The Collapsed Bookshelf, was released in 2020.