~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Kelly R. Samuels

Burdened by the Particular

We use the outdated stamps

to mail birthday cards.

At least three are needed

for each. They cover the envelope

in colorful, childish ways. Leave

our tongues gluey and foul.

They come from the tubs

she kept under the stairs

in the spirit of the hobby

she never quite took to.

The tweezers. The little plastic

sleeves. The perforations. 

Today, the giraffe and the giant

panda are the latest to serve

in the fashion they were

originally intended.

We think it’s only prudent

to get through what we can

before we, too, die. One looks

off to the side. One stares

at us, seemingly incredulous

of our love and best wishes.

Kelly R. Samuels is the author of two poetry collections and four chapbooks—the most recent Oblivescence (Red Sweater Press, 2024) and Talking to Alice (Whittle Micro-Press, 2023.) She is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, with work appearing in River Styx, The Massachusetts Review, Denver Quarterly, december, and RHINO. She lives in the Upper Midwest.