Self-Praise – Kelly Neal

I am a skeleton wrapped
in failing flesh; I wheeze
and my skin bursts open.
I dreamed I was some
other, then woke to see
it was true. Heaven
is too far away to lean
against. I am no sword.
Even upon reflection,
no such fame awaits me:
too many complications
settle to the ground like dust.

Kelly Neal has lived and worked in and around Austin, Texas for most of his life. He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, and Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. Before he started teaching, Kelly worked as a baker at a local French bakery. He currently teaches English at an all-girl school in Austin. He has had a smattering of poems published over the last few years appearing in Acropolis Journal, Fig Tree Journal, Aliteration, and rogue poetry review.

Photography by Anne Leigh Parrish