Since 1968
How many English words did my great-grandmother’s tongue
butcher before she was told to be careful? Be quiet.
When did she finally decide to let go of language? Surrender
to a world where phrases would never belong to her.
Once …
[now that there is a cum rag I curl
around for comfort] I don’t need
the silver blubber of another purse.
Give me Gatsby or enough THC
to forget Tennessee. Yes, the only
proof I exist is plastered …
I’m thinking of a gourd.
Maybe there’s a thread
inside. Like a thin
long thread.
It hangs from the neck,
searches to stitch, latch
with the stupefied gaze of a calf still wet
from birth.
Maybe I’m convinced
it’s from …
we were there at the slaughter
at the slaughter of Fala
not all of us are guilty;
someone—not I—held the knife
and someone—not I—gave the order
but there are no innocents among us
some of us were inside the room…
circa Summer 2020
pixelated and clear / 5.5 inch screens spawn portals that yawn / faces oust doors
counterfeits of Edvard’s The Scream / the world mesmerized / misty –
eyes / our ery haze met / a pre-rapture rhapsody …
Lauren Kalstad is a poet, professor, and essayist. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Querencia Press, Rogue Agent, The Southeast Review, and World Literature Today. She received her MFA from New York …
|
this is built from benign neglect |
a frisson scattered electric |
Apples dangle. Trees in Pantone 363.
Shadows schooner fallen copper berries,
& I don’t need to be afraid because
there …
Needed not soft chicken but self-check-in,
typed again. Got stuck inside
a question of identification: extended
family or emotional relation, clicked
and unclicked—this went for with people,
too. The common moon surfaced
like a moon jelly, more jelly
than moon, …
Mute swans mate for life.
Does lack of vocalization have any connection
to their fidelity?
Mute swans have connection to mute swans.
No lack of fidelity for swans.
For life, mate—for life.
Mute swans have their …
