*Poetry — May 29, 2021
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Let me tell you what I know about exile—
how it begins with elegy and ends with elegy.
What matters is what happens in between. Understand:
a deer with slanted eyes or a blind cat
running through the trees. Yes. No. Maybe
the wind in the alley emits a hollow sound.
I’ll never understand how to circle the periphery
of history, baby. Field theory, baby:
layer upon layer. At its source, a house
with no doors. Between the meat world and the real world,
I am so busy. With earthly matters.
Open a fresh can for the cat. Run laps
on the treadmill, trying to get my flirt on. Enlightenment is
an exit where I punch a hole in the wall,
let it widen until it becomes blank and relentless
as rain. Although I grow my hair long
and master the quietism practiced by burning monks,
still I mispronounce every L. Still my lexicon
piss as poor. I was born
at the last minute, which is to say:
however long it takes, you can take that long.
how it begins with elegy and ends with elegy.
What matters is what happens in between. Understand:
a deer with slanted eyes or a blind cat
running through the trees. Yes. No. Maybe
the wind in the alley emits a hollow sound.
I’ll never understand how to circle the periphery
of history, baby. Field theory, baby:
layer upon layer. At its source, a house
with no doors. Between the meat world and the real world,
I am so busy. With earthly matters.
Open a fresh can for the cat. Run laps
on the treadmill, trying to get my flirt on. Enlightenment is
an exit where I punch a hole in the wall,
let it widen until it becomes blank and relentless
as rain. Although I grow my hair long
and master the quietism practiced by burning monks,
still I mispronounce every L. Still my lexicon
piss as poor. I was born
at the last minute, which is to say:
however long it takes, you can take that long.
Originally published in No Tokens Issue No. 9. View full issue & more.