~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

JAKE GOLDWASSER

Aegean

Sing through these lungs
so I can feel your breath in me.

xxxxxxxxxxif i chanted the odyssey
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxthose are the first words
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxi’d put
xxxxxxxxxxon odysseus’s lips

Two-faced Hermes, god of thresholds,
is there a limit to my loneliness?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxthe bay might as well be

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxthe aegeanxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcoots bob

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxlike buoys
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxset ten feet apart

xxxxxxxnever againxxxxwillxxxxthere be

xxxxxxxsolitude like this

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa house left
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxwith nothing but one’s person

I have known nature’s feracity before.
Have you ever seen a deer skip along with an arrow in its side?
Blood spouts like nectar from a jug.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxwhen we introduced ourselves
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxyou namedxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxthe oceans you crossed

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxto be in this country

xxxxxxxxxxxxxi counted state lines i’d hurdlexxxxxxxxalpha beta gamma delta
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxto make my way home

We haul heavy bodies for miles
before collapsing on a lover’s threshold.

xxxxxxxhaving never met you
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxi felt your wound
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxsmart in my side

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxand wondered about
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxhomegoing

Will I recognize you, Penelope?
Now you appear to me as a tempest, now as a shearwater.

 xxxxxxxxxxxxxthe letters of your name
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxblacken on my screen

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxlike altar smoke
xxxxxxxxxxxxxi remind myself:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxyou are the specters i’ve let
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxparcel and till
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxin this season of hysterical weather

The sun is our compass,
our lamp, and our torturer.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxyour hour
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxfor painting patterns onto tiles

xxxxxxxpalettes like shingles
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxturning back the sun

xxxxxxxxxxxxxdazzled

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxwe consult auspices
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxto pay

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxtimid compliments

From every aspect,
the wine-red sea totters.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcolorblind people on youtube

xxxxxxxxxxxxxuse special glasses to see
xxxxxxas most people do

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxthe tangle of warm and cool

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxthe bawling
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxof book spines and cereal boxes

Behind me is a decade of violence, before me whorling
burgundy, phthalo, and ultramarine.

 xxxxxxxxxxxxxi am the onexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxpassing the time

xxxxxxrecalling how
xxxxxxxxxxxxxreasonable it once felt
xxxxxxxxxxxxxto take for granted

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxtatters of lettuce
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxbathtubs’ outrageous bubble gum

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxall the colors

xxxxxxxxxxxxxout there
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxwaiting like suitors

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxZeus on high,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxwhose chroma perfuses even the bleakest seas,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxwhose awful lightning anoints all crags
xxxxxxxxxxxxxsooner or later,

xxxxxxxxxxxxxI promise to love this world when it’s mine again.