I want to be inside
the wooden ribcage

of a god. I want
to fold my clothes

in a small room
with a red velvet curtain ...

Like the car-heavy bison on the ruined road
in Chernobyl’s exclusion zone, she keeps her home
here. A raven stretches its wings atop a crucifix in spring
as Maria farms her atomic land. Armored bugs threaten
her crops. Why must they interrupt? She two-steps ...

police siren through a siphon

double pitched air brakes

metal: key chain, dog tags

a laugh’s bubble envelope

You lay on your back and the air of browning onions watered your tongue. You wanted to rise again. Let them bring it to you ...

The hush of a summer morning
Bathed in the light of sunrise
Drew me to the open window
And the astounding beauty
Of every flower and tree in my yard ...

Stake

as in burned at
for heresy or misunderstanding—

martyrdom or taken
in error, mistaken ...