Offering

by Leslie Tate

For the boy with the daffodil,
fist-plucked handful, rain-washed,
drippy, it's a shout he's keeping down.

Unsheathed Excalibur, he holds it high.

Whoopee geedong with drips to shake out,
water-egg babies, wet touch, spray
and Holy Joe sprinkler
—forgive me teacher for what I done—
his gift, ex nihilo, stem-snapped, tangled,
signs for the raw
cries wet and wild and dribbly
is a bubble, gasp, yeller, trouble I've been
with snatched and baggies show
waver, weapon, flourish, hand held up
for force 10 and silent

and is, and isn't, rain.

About the Author

Leslie Tate lives near London, teaching English to asylum seekers and university students. His work is featured in numerous web and print journals. Look for his chapbook published by Parallel Press, University of Wisconsin. Samples of Tate's photography can be found at http://www.pbase.com/bardofbyte.

Maintained or neglected, familiar or foreign, well-worn or wild, roadways inform our decisions and identities. Their geographies direct the movement
of our lives and sketch the cartography of our stories. In this spirit, 322 Review publishes provocative emerging and established artists whose fiction,
creative nonfiction, poetry, and mixed media artwork wander the paths of human experience. A nonprofit literary journal conceived
and operated by former Rowan University graduate students, 322 Review is based in Southern New Jersey.