scraps from the swamp

mummified in kudzu, eglantine, cicadas

the curse

swell of cicada season:
pulse and thrum and
hypnotize me, you little
sickos, swallow me
in your buzzing sea
the forest and I are
dripping, weary
too alive

mummified in kudzu,
eglantine, wisteria, our lady 
of the lady of the lady of
forgot me already, have you?
water-fat, drowned 
and drunk, lurch from 
creekbed silt, rise to 
remind you, you
love me still, even 
now, now especially
lips curling 
into curse

.

last night a storm

thunder ripples
through the house
wind and rain clatter
acorns like gunshots
across the tin roof.
I ache for you and
you and the city
while outside owls
yowl and chatter 
vying for the best
winter hollows.

I am electric, ready
to burst aflame 
at first touch

.

compass rose

candlelight flutters 
through the house 
once ours
my maps remain
on the walls
while I, 
compass rose,
little torch in hand
point the only
direction I know:
away

.

by these remedies

kingfishers cackle down the river
a man plays trombone from the tub
dunk your head in the kiddie pool: 
by these remedies and more I clear
the flapping bats from my corridors

all day she & I throw rocks in the water
my happiness is tremendous, awkward
unfamiliar. I map its territory like a 
blind man, touching everything
smelling the air