In Vaudeville, the Bicycle Rider, by Charles Demuth

Never Forget and Psychosomatics

Never Forget

I will never forget
how quickly your scooter sped down the hill
how much fear was etched
on your mother’s face,

how forcefully you hit the gravel,
how hard your body jolted
on the pavement,

how intensely my heart surged,
as if shocked by a defibrillator,
how desperately I sprinted to reach you,
each second stretching endlessly,

and how grateful I am
you are still here,
to also never forget.

Psychosomatics

I lost my fear of death
a few years ago

So why did
my chest shutter
and my head flood with cold
when I noticed
this mole had grown?

My body is me, but I am more than my body

One day,
when I reach
what I am (not) afraid of,
we both will be raised

Then my body and I will be at one with another
as we are in You

September 14, 2024




Further considerations

[poetry]

Someone Else's Grief and Job Before the Job

By Ace Boggess

I’ve never walked in driving rain // as she does now, the noise so sudden & // vast as to become its own silence.

[poetry]

Blame the Lighter and Decoupage

By Zoe Nace

My left ear thrums every time my heart beats

[poetry]

Presidents Day and Before Knocking

By Peter Leroe-Muñoz

Snowed in // and the power napping // like a fed puppy.

[poetry]

Lament of the Perfectionist

By Julie Shulman

I am building a boat in the basement // and there are still so many details to work out.