tu jamón
two poems & collages
half of twin gradients. a body-scan in collage and prose, held against a reading of barthes. lavenders, greens, music notation.
something knots in the chest hums there
limerence wrung
i replay the mouth a taste,
tongue finds the crooked ones again tries to hum it back
close
i've worn the face smooth from handling
uneven loose in the vein
the body learns its orbit before i do
i am already turning am already turning by the time i notice
attuned to the invented tone unshared
i pack it inward tight
it swells against the ribs
on cole it used to rise at the collarbone
a tightness i kept naming wrong
a year
the chest stays where it is
i study the surface and do not press
in me still watches but gently now
the way you look at weather
we stop a bird lifts
miles in the air
my mouth opens but does not ask
i name it
hold it open
at the sternum
it moves through
without taking
