lucille clifton

"adam thinking" she stolen from my bone is it any wonder i hunger to tunnel back inside desperate to reconnect the rib and clay and to be whole again some need is in me struggling to roar through my mouth into a name this creation is so fierce i would rather have been born

"eve thinking" it is wild country here brothers and sisters coupling claw and wing groping one another i wait while the clay two-foot rumbles in his chest searching for language to call me but he is slow tonight as he sleeps i will whisper into his mouth our names

waiting for inspiration is an excuse not to write - kevin prufer

paste flowers on ambitious pavements.
photocopy the distance between us.
i’m borderline bipolar
and concrete taste similar to hell.
photocopy the distance between us.

my limbs are too short
and concrete ash taste similar to hell.
needles scratch at stained windows.
my limbs are too short

you kiss like glass
needles scratch at stained windows
just borrow my spleen if it’s that important
you kiss like glass

i can count the cuts by the frown lines
just borrow my spleen if it’s that important
everything’s falling apart now
i can count the cuts by the frown lines

i’m borderline bipolar.
everything’s falling apart, now.



my version pantoum

runaway.

take me back to that place, i’ve forgotten the way.
to marvel at the tree blossoms
and say, my how beautiful. the air is so sweet here.
your hands were so big my face became lost in the
lines. I miss those times. I miss that place.
we ran away together, but you’re a liar.