[th(e)reat] → siege engine
in my own body ← here i am a siege
overthrowing a home where no one lives
but me. i’m too big for my too big head
too barely anything for want, my love
built me from a nail in the wall galloped
to meet the socks on the floor → now a hole
in the wall i would peek thru & run some
cable thru so we all could watch cable.
now, there’s a good amount of good reasons
why no one lives here, no one lives with me.
my cat even tries to leave. he jumps out
the window, off the roof, & waits for me
to catch him with the neighbors. & i too
trynna be beautiful & loved this way.
i ← suppose: perching for life to begin
is this flatline moving me, failed, forward,
feathered closer to grace each time; going
mother after mother i wake up as
a dove picking lilies from her black i
suppose i love so i know i ain’t know
brevity without withholding a breath ←
loved those flying ants, infiltrating thru all fronts’
doors til i (w)as a room entered watching
for bites tender thicker than all-time’s
to consume ← consistency dragged → this long
makes me wanna bite bird feet ← too baby
cat i love you too,... ache in my bones you
remind me of what is it(?) to be picked ←
Copyright © 2020 by Trace Howard DePass. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 19, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets.