Chris Cottrell

On the theme of How We Fall Out of Love

from Cephalopeda

you are octopus to me—
i grant you three wishes,
and they must be figurative.

you say, giant squid race
through the sky and hang
puffs of ink everywhere
so it rains on your tomatoes
after a week
of hot days

you say, this tentacle
covered with hungry
kisses
and we make love near a graveyard
even though the ground is wet.

you say, within me
is a vestigal shell
a reminder
that there are snails
in the distant past,

which reminds me
of the last time
i glimpsed your breast:

just before you pulled
your sweatshirt on
and locked the door.

Author Biography

Chris Cottrell is a two-time Shelly Reece award-winning poet and one of the first Portland State MFA poetry graduates. His work has appeared in The Scene, Willamette Week, Portland Review, Clackamas Literary Review, Oregon Literary Review, Nervy Girl!, Poor Claudia, Grove Review, THEthe Poetry,and Haggard & Halloo. Cottrell’s chapbooks are [luvthrong] and Normal Park & Paradise (12^th Street).

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