qarrtsiluni

1

I know the road
hangs by a thread

swiftly moss, sudden trees

pieces of sound
come like fish when called

say rain, say spiral
eyes murmur
so it is

breath can’t be simple, can it
everydayness of afternoon

breath can’t find
can’t be simple, can it

roots on a slant
get used to loneliness

salt, hemispheres, glass
break into sky

taste extends
as avalanche
quiet network of hieroglyphs

2

Night seasons
I speak a streaming wind

thrash, throw myself at corners
far off, hidden, lurking

under this lid of cloth, this flap of lawn

how hard to say
only what’s inside

every step sinks
myriad bees

widen my mouth
do you hear me

awake at the bottom of the glass

3

Why do I
speak hard things

days consume
let the sea

why do I
almost dwell in silence
speak hard things

alone—eyes
easy isn’t simple

without the sea
noise melts into hills

4

Any minute
is there then a world
night speck
what distracts me
is there then
a world
are these grains or dust
a world
how far can I fling
myself from sleep
how far
any minute
myself from sleep
effort coils
without face
without road
neither grain nor dust
any minute
a world

5

Underwater thickens sky

let me lie here
alphabetize myself

whatever you do, please, don’t come and go
whatever you do, please

thoughts ridge
unending

what if part of me all of me
into matchbooks

underwater thickens
part of me all of me

can’t stay like this

here the absence
here the drums

by Jane Rice

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