Society of Allergics

Abstract

Society of Allergics Tim Kahl (bio) It was ragweed season and we were busy with our sloppy thinking. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw the shadow of a huge building stirring. Truth was, the sun was behind a drifting bank of clouds. I saw a dab of oatmeal in the beard of the man we called the leader. After breakfast all of us tried to make the exact same empty motions. We sold dolls made out of fiberglass and lipstick. Our pamphlets explained how to fly to the moon. [End Page 70] I had a room of my own where I kept my books on the floor. I pulled up the carpet near the wall and planted cinnamon. Each man was assigned to keep track of a bird for a whole day. It was a rite of passage. My day came during ragweed season. I saw the bird I was following escape to the top of a huge building. I saw a shadow. The sun burned bright. Through the tears in my eyes, choking back snot, I finally had a miraculous vision . . . Oh - we were such beautiful children. Tim Kahl Tim Kahl teaches at Sacramento City College. He has published or has works forthcoming in SunDog: The Southeast Review, Madison Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, Nimrod, and others. Copyright © 2004 the University of Nebraska Press