Photoshop Techniques
Ctrl + a
identifies your footing in this place.
The soles of your shoes rolling
over gravel. The rain smell
of the chaparral on your legs.
Select tools > zoom
reflecting the golden ripples of the lake.
Consider where this water came from.
Who it is for. Un-pour
any concrete placed to dam or guide
or create a seat. Let the water
glide over the chaparral’s waxy leaves
towards the salamanders
hidden in the caverns beneath you.
Lasso
the condos the tennis courts the plane
that cuts across the moon lasso the robin
out of the bush and into your palm
hold it tight to your chest.
Ctrl + z
until you begin to fall. Do not grasp
at the dry brush on your way down–
it will only scrape your wanting palms.
You will try to ground yourself in
the right click of your cursor over
the sign for the country club. You will drag
it down with you, awaken in the parking lot.
Ankles stiff, eyes sharp.
Select > Modify > Feather
> The robin will continue to rustle
until you find yourself in the soft inside
of its beak. You will become a pearl
forming unchecked.
You will know nothing of symmetry.
Grace Mathews is a poet and educator from Los Angeles, CA. She is currently an MFA candidate at San Diego State University, where she teaches writing and serves as the Social Media editor for Poetry International. Her work is published or forthcoming in Terrain.org, The Los Angeles Review, Zone 3, Laurel Review, Harpur Palate, and elsewhere.
