I’m learning to sit still, a literal study in stillness, something my brain treats as venom—
the gifts extracted resemble infants, an abstract shiver dampens their heartbeat
a fire burns dirty in their chest,
the stench of jasmine and ash, disintegrates—
phosphenes and phosphorus bleach teeth/ retinas twitch to the tune of silence
eyes in my eyes spill on my lap a prayer of syllables caught in the spine,
wings stuck, windless as I plummet unaware of the many arms and many mouths ready to catch my fall
to simplify:
I am deep in my body, my thoughts are thoughts are thoughts Jesus isn’t near, but I am I touch my tongue to salivate I sit with myself to forget the past that haunts, the future that worries I want the metric of now a synth serenading my hands to quit pretending they know what they should be touching