genesis of our long quiet
the first monsters i knew were all kind.
they lived in the upper room, among carpet burns,
manically repeating the language of early learners
stop with a hard d, animal names referenced
as the currency we used to purchase our bodies
sarah kicking out at the piano bench, hands too
small to play the notes properly yet.
just large enough to grab at your roots
& not let go. your head miles above the earth,
directing celestial objects in arcs about the room
rearranging tomorrow through sacred artifacts
from the office. I B M, a three letter electric sonnet,
& all the truth between snowstatic on the television.
you led me to the black plastic altar & ran binary rites
that taught me foreign capitals, the names of states, &
ancient history. your hand over mine, guiding it
to the right location. was it even possible then,
that you could have seen us at the diner? 2006.
still sick in my alveoli, swimming amid ill fit clothing
through the humid-heat night of our conversation.
long after you waded out from the world of poison ivy
in white & bleach wash denim, the sky pulled down & spun
around as new skin. weather held off until you came indoors,
even florida waits for god & nothing has even been closer
than your arms washing away chloroplasm in holy water
a voice coming in disconnected & ephemeral, long distance
call from oregon. i read out scripture into the receiver,
small words first, when max's single digits
felt enlightened & prophetic. answering machine cleared
before i got to the kitchen. does the holy ghost ever call
with neither of us there to answer?
you between grocery store / office / & car dealership,
pushing the blades through grass that stained my eyelids
before the door & her threatened departure & sarah shouting
hurt as the dandelions died, seeds unspread.
i feel the vibration in my pocket but don’t text back
waiting in line / the pharmacy’s fluorescent mundanity /
beneath the jagged sprites of who we’re becoming:
8 bit forms congruent to our shared lineage
twin memories at low fidelity, forever repeating the pattern.