Tribute
Home now I examine the nose-down
fly on my floorboards
the fine hairs on its legs
a broken umbrella folding unfolding
What passes through the keyhole of a look
twist of your ribcage as you turn to me
debts you’re saddled with and debts you ride
We try to keep the radiant capsule buried
we try not speaking
the lake we watch over watches back
You show me photos of water
and we get caught on the surface
it calls us up quick as champagne
as weightless
I give you a stone you shine in your mouth like a plum
Taped above your desk, a quote about vogueing
I photograph while you’re at work
so I can be with it later
“for when we are no longer ashamed of ourselves,”
—is that now?
“we will be free to imagine
an order of our own”
The stone you give me sits at the deepest point of my pocket
Our skins touch
the stone’s and mine
From nine floors up the lake’s ethereal
green gown refuses to end
but we know it has edges
Now surround my hand entirely
sweetly crowd me
When the creditors call
I answer and tell them about
my debts to your mind
the dark reds of the carpet the sun wrings pink
and other forms of adoration
Blue underglow on the fly’s body or a blues
from an adjacent room
“Tribute” Copyright © 2019 by Ari Banias. Originally published in 580/Split. Used with the permission of the poet.