©Moronic Ox Literary Journal - Escape Media Publishers / Open Books 
Poetry  
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"Urban Fog" 

The dense fog 
of concrete 
everywhere
underfoot, in this place 
where the green organs 
of the 
breathing 
Earth 
grow tired and give 
birth in odd spaces. 

And where 
within my own slow 
resistance 
something wants to grow, 
a thrust 
beside dried Ginkgo leaf
the force 
of breath, the hours
turning 
over on themselves, 
while fists open, 
releasing 
gray weight.

"With Furious Gravity"

She wanted to kiss the soft dog,
To curve her arms in cool embrace,
Confine the urban nomad gently.
Her hug would tame the tough animal
She surmised, undaunted by his steel
Blue eyes, wild with hunger and fear.

A dark cloud passed between the girl
And the sun. A cold rain began to fall
With furious gravity, with wet, intention
Soaking the dismal city street with a liquid
Importance, the flow of surprise unleashed
Like the stray, like her heart all frayed.

Her steps were quiet as she lifted them,
As they fell to the floor of the tamarack canoe,
Floating on the river of her own dream
Of escape. She wanted to swing from the overpass,
Collect all the frogs multiplying in her pockets,
Throw a smooth rock far and hard.

"Sound Off" 

I watched the news tonight
with the sound off. The man
in the red jacket pointing, pelted 
by rain, holding his mic like 
an ice cream cone. Rain streaming 
sideways with Rita Cat 3 swirling 
red in the right-hand corner ready
to strike, no casualties, evacuation 
patrolled as patrol car lights 
spin and blink like a battle. Water, 
wind and fire, live – in real time 
three part split view: State of Emergency –
shortages live, as the news night 
ticker moved right to left spewing 
Katrina’s aftermath victims spliced
with Palermo’s drug abuse, Ruddick’s 
win – wind warnings gone. The way 
back to the room I’m in, where the 
weather is fine at the moment,  
just quiet.

The Poetry of Carole Mora
Carole Mora is an avid walker and meditator currently living in Santa
Monica, CA. She finds delight in the written word, theatre, the varied
dimensions and applications of the visual, as well music. She writes
poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction, and is most interested in the way
image animates texts. She loves making home made soup on rainy days.