Metrology Theory #7

Sean Cho A.

what a bird friend has done for you
Susan Barry-Schultz

speeding through tacoma to find the end of
the very last rainbow. wanting be just get there already.
but. also. pondering/enjoying our last moments
of wonder. what does it mean to have the answer
to every question. the answer the last night’s argument
at the bar was found on our phones 316 the speed
of the world’s fastest car. i am glad that you are i
are not in that car. instead. enjoying the sunlight
through the sunroof. the dandelion fluff getting
stuck in our split ends. i hope by the time we get
there we will find exactly what we were looking for.
each bird already having a name. the sunlight reflecting
off of the rain. i imagine we will be silent for a while.
you and i enjoying the seemingly unanswerable.
maybe our car will run out of gas. or need new brake pads.
leaving us there. on the hill. together. for as long as we need.

Kerry Trautman is a lifelong Ohioan whose work has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals. She has served as judge or workshop leader for the Northwest region of Ohio’s “Poetry Out Loud” competition annually since 2016. Her books are Things That Come in Boxes (King Craft Press 2012), To Have Hoped (Finishing Line Press 2015), Artifacts (NightBallet Press 2017), To be Nonchalantly Alive (Kelsay Books 2020), Marilyn: Self-Portrait, Oil on Canvas (Gutter Snob Books 2022), Unknowable Things (Roadside Press 2022), and Irregulars (Stanchion Books 2023). Find Kerry on Instagram and Facebook

Rachel Turney is an educator and artist located in Denver. Her disappearing chapbook Europe in Black and White is available on Blood + Honey July and August 2025. Find Rachel online at her website, on Instagram, and on BlueSky.

(Note: “Italian Sea” first appeared in Streetlight Magazine)