Some Mood

Adam Clay

The kids at the park light a kiteon fire and watch it lift into the sky,while back home later, everything Itouch feels like overripe fruitright before it breaks open. Thisis some mood to have. For how manyyears will I gloss over words, dropice into a glass, count the number of treeson this lot in case something’s changedovernight? No clouds on the skyline,the sunlight awful and brutal.A motorcycle rips the day openwith its wretched and intentional sound.

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Author Photo of Adam Clay

Adam Clay’s latest book is Circle Back (Milkweed Editions, 2024). He teaches at Louisiana State University.

"In his tender fifth collection, Clay blends ecological grief, loss, and a deep appreciation for life in the Anthropocene, which is all the more wondrous for its fragility. He presents remarkably evocative scenes that could easily trigger despair, or even horror, but instead engender awe." —Publisher's Weekly

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