Glenn G. Coats

Triangles

They are silent
on the school bus,
still as statues
staring
straight ahead
at the narrow road.
No one asks,
“What is wrong
with you two?”
Everybody knows.

The boys are silent
in sociology class
where Mr. Brennan
once called them
partners in crime.
No one is pointing
out the window
and saying,
“There they go again!”

There is silence
in the stock room
where the two friends
work weekends.
No one is singing
“Louie Louie”
as they slice open
boxes of shampoo
and conditioner.
The boys are somber
as they pull a pallet
back
to the incinerator
where they feed the fire
until
everything is gone.

stinging nettles
her favorite song
with someone else

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About the Author

Glenn G. Coats lives with his wife, Joani, in Carolina Shores, North Carolina. His books include two Snapshot Press collections of haibun, A Synonym for Gone (2021) and Degrees of Acquaintance (2019); Furrows of Snow (Turtle Light Press, 2019), an honorable mention winner in the Haiku Society of America’s 2020 Merit Book Awards; and Another Lost Boat (Pineola Publishing, 2022).

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