Multitasking – Ryan Oliver Drendel

as soon as you can
you better call me

as a cracked screen caches
a country of stolen sunsets

as wildfire ash shushes
an altar of lemon petals

as our myths make us look
up how to multitask again

as a computer studies stars
you stare into the in-between

as the lemon trees across
the street start shivering

as we agree to let go
of the other’s final leaf

as a shoeless cyclist keeps
lapping a parking lot alone

as we forget to look both ways
as we enter the intersection

Ryan Oliver Drendel earned his MFA from Northern Arizona University. He now curates Flagstaff Cycle-Zine! and serves on the board of the Northern Arizona Book Festival. His work can be found in publications like Complete Sentence, Quince Magazine, and Meridian.