To Be a Handful of Nails Left Out in the Snow Overnight

by Ryan Downum





Lately, I’ve been splitting the moon in two.

I’ve been putting chalk in my worn-down

mouth. All over town small patches

of green hum. Commotion

a startled ambulance. What one throws away so

another can find. One’s desire to be an ocean,

to sleep inside a fire’s torn mouth.

How simple this all is. How simple to open

up a heart and pull at its delicate stitching.





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