WARNINGS

A bright orange cone lies on its side by the East River. Plastic
surrounded by rocks and a water-logged pilon.

At low tide, the river gropes kelp rimmed stones for silt.
It takes up to 500 years for plastic to degrade, which is to say,

to become smaller pieces of plastic, which
is also to say that plastic remains. The remains

of this orange cone will lose their luster, fade and bleach,
while the contours of the river flirt for new boundaries,

a plastic touch. For now, the tide pulls at the cone’s edges,
another warning in a world full of them. I imagine losing

myself to the river, pockets lined with invisible plastic.
An orange cone signals serious injury, possibly death,

do not travel along the line you intended, it says. White lines
tread the cone’s plastic surface. Caution. There is another way.

Let me know, should you find it. Thin trails bald the edges
of the park: desire lines, a route carved like initials into the green.

A heart’s curve, when looked at closely enough,
resembles a straight line until you find yourself swerving.

Jared Beloff is the author of Who Will Cradle Your Head (ELJ Editions, 2023). He is the editor of the Marvel inspired poetry anthology, Marvelous Verses (Daily Drunk, 2021) and the forthcoming Poets of Queens Anthology (2024). His work is forthcoming in AGNI and Image Journal and can be found in Baltimore Review, River Mouth Review, The Shore and elsewhere. He is a Poetry Editor at The Weight Journal. You can find him on his website www.jaredbeloff.com. He is a teacher who lives in Queens, NY with his wife and two daughters.