poetry, summer 2023

BONE  FIRE

I am too fire      —      I know my arms      and legs

               wrists less     than my own
pinky and thumb     in   circumference      

 can be     snapped                \ into / autumn

                                                               kindling

Made to                 flicker              fast
I can              flash              forest

                                                into        forgotten

               all glitter    :   precious wasteland    

         upon        

   stones     I blacken   ;

these exhales are not so     CO2
              they push oxygen      from my crackling  

You’ve got      a temper         I tell    myself             from peanut gallery

                         as I squint into opera              
                         glasses 

these binoculars I           have borrowed
              with   no intention
                                                           of returning

On stage, I see myself                   melt                                                                     
                                                     synthetic


Growing up                        all the children
                            ’s 
                          jackets said               Danger     ,
                                                               Flammable

but it has been too long                   
                           since I was a child
who heeded warning

                                                        The trouble is 
         this
                                                                   sometimes I wish 

             I could promise   
             you

                                                        more water

I wish I could 
promise you less            
                                       ash

                      fewer 

                              splinters

      

We all burn through    —

             Sometime.

lives in a mountain town surrounded by ponderosa pines. Their poetry and prose has been published or is forthcoming on Poets.org, Sundog Lit, Another Chicago Magazine, genderqueer.me, tiny wren lit, and Bloodletter (some publications under a former first name). They hold an MFA in Creative Writing from Northern Arizona University and grew up in Portland, Oregon.

REECE GRITZMACHER