The Year Made Out of a Cut in Your Civilization
Out of the lamb’s eye where the dead
shop for perfumes and bronze-colored cake. Out of
the buttered cobs, embarrassing and sweet corn
in your teeth. Out of a fog
engorged above Baltic waves. The loan-sharked waves. Out of how
happy we all could be. Out of the gun in the girl’s dress pocket.
Out of seamstress and the ghost. Out of the unkind,
blond-haired spring where your name goes missing in the wind.
Out of crispy fish skin regressing to oil. Out of your Polish side
draping its scales over your Russian side. Out of the branch’s
private misery. Out of your gums the last leaf
and Yiddish tooth. Out of the refurbished, de-fished sea.
Credit
Copyright © 2024 by Carlie Hoffman. Used with the permission of the author.
Date Published
01/01/2024