jayivan

myths birthed

from birthing pains

bear fables

words cannot contain

the not yet

struts and clacks

slaying

where the sidewalk cracks

::

taking blood from broken knuckle—

rouging cheek, de-classing muscle

listening to techno out back with my plants, the cicadas chime along in their rolling rhythms. an orange spider rebuilds its home between the purple clematis and the purple spotted wandering jew. my neighbor tends to his garden of kale, collards, tomatoes, and peppers. the cicadas keep singing.

our insistence

our existence

witched into bliss

with a hip-bump

from a sis

the soil beneath hums

the forest within strums

the river queer cums

The gravity of

The basement green room is so strong

Not even shade escapes

after the rainstorm,

seventh avenue traffic

quietly streaming

/

brick exteriors

like a forest of mossy

trees, a canopy

/

this sweetening hush,

this urban idyll of us:

full belly, full heart

melancholy &

endless euphoria bound

in body braids