Christopher Jon Heuer

PUTTY IN THE SECURITY GAP

It occurs to few
A disgruntled government
worker, in the right
place and time,
with even a single
plastic egg of
silly putty could spread
it over sensitive
documents, copying
everything, and their
bosses (trained only
to spot C-4) would say
"Is that C-4 spread
all over your desk, mister?"
The disgruntled government
worker would say
"No, it's silly putty," and go right on
copying everything in sight.

* * *

MUTANT VAMPIRE SQUIRRELS ATTACK
(a Sonnet of Interpersonal Relationships and Capitalism under Duress)

If mutant vampire squirrels populate
the trees of North America, outdoor
recreation as we know it today
(and love) would change. Example: a need for

armed guards on picnics. Young lovers would not
stray far from sunlit fields of clovers and
daisies. Axes would generate a lot
of price runs and economic demand.

Husbands wouldn't go up to the attic
to investigate strange noises (or down
to the basement, either). If you got sick
people would check for rabies, suspicion

clouding their already strained, stressed features.
Scanning treetops for fang-licking creatures.

Christopher Jon Heuer's recent book Bug--Deaf Identity and Internal Revolution was published by Gallaudet University Press in 2007, and his book of poetry, All Your Parts Intact: Poems, was published by The Tactile Mind Press in 2005. Heuer's work has additionally appeared in Kaleidoscope Magazine, The Tactile Mind Quarterly and various anthologies including Deaf American Poetry: An Anthology by John Lee Clark and The Deaf Way II Anthology by Tonya M. Stremlau.