Choices

Antoni Ooto

Choices

I watched as it caught fire,
that log thrown into the stove. 

Funny, two small bugs and a spider appeared
and ran towards the open door facing me. 

Offering the fingers of my leather glove,
I tried to gather them. 

They turned, preferring the fire over me.
(Imagine that.) 

The spider walked like my father.

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Steve

“I’ve always wanted to be a broadcaster.” 

That’s what he told me, leaning on the tailgate
of his father’s company truck. 

“I’m good with people.” 

Steve had a rich inflective voice, reporter skills,
and that rare ability to put people at ease.

This fledgling reporter was specifically chosen
to cover the Democratic National Convention
and even the Pope’s visit to the states. 

His copy was detailed yet concise,
seemingly that of a veteran journalist. 

In spring, Chris, his father
came to cut the grass as usual.
I asked how’s Steve doing. 

He said Steve was sent out West
and met a girl.  They were working
on the Rose Bowl Parade. 

But one morning, high up on a float,
he fell, slamming to the ground. 


Steve helps his dad now.
We’re still friends.

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 Antoni Ooto is an internationally published poet and flash fiction writer.
Well-known for his abstract expressionist art, Antoni now adds his voice to poetry. Reading and studying the works of many poets has opened another means of self-expression.

His recent poems have been published in Amethyst Review, Green Ink Poetry, The Poet Magazine, Brown Bag Online, The Wild Word, and a number of journals and anthologies.
He lives and works in upstate New York with his wife poet/storyteller, Judy DeCroce.

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