Ringing Lullaby
Inside this blue-blueforest
and sweet oblivionof milk and stars.
Your face and strangevoice
come to mein dreams.
Feral saint and orphandriving through death’s swarm,
or morphinelike lullaby. Music,
and the reverberatingchild’s white crib
of night—
Pink Lullaby
Liquid, the godly seepof having livedalready too long.
Fluorescent-pinkplastic medicinal bottlesstrewn along the floor.
The etymology of trauma:the ritual of sittingon the balconycounting the hours.
A silver switchblade.
Rotting cherry blossoms.
The golden field of girlhoodbecoming undone.
Black weeds and the brownfilth of succumb and memory.
The white flickerof the television setand the silence that isthe mind’s gentle breaking.
Baby-blue, this roomfilled with plush animals and glassbowls of bright candy.
The sharp cutsof morning.
The drop backinto the feveringand infinite abyss.
Below
If there is a woodit is filled with lies.…
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The American Poetry Review (Digital) - 1 Issue, November/December 2024