Stars of Av

[Poem]

“the fingers of my flesh transcend

my transcendental soul

the tightness of my shoulders end

my teeth have made me whole”

—Grace Paley

Chase stars down dust roads (((brave trooper))) said the cub of burning woods

Whose smoke you (((follow across winds))) and dons doom above a mountain

Inside you.

Look at (((the locket))) locking long chains (((serpentined))) around a chest

Guarded by skeletons trembling

Inside you.

A mind is a house and the (((heart))) a sanctuary

What is a what if, if what is is all there is to bridge the chasm

(((Inside you)))?

I am now dust of stars and the road for you here,

(((Effulgent Light of Many))), is covered in memory’s

Fire,

Inside you.

Inside you,

Join stars down dust roads (((Andromeda))) guarded by skeletons trembling Body white inside the burning woods (((forever))) dons doom above a mountain

Outside you

Forget (((the locket))) locking long chains (((serpentined))) around a chest

unguarded

Outside you

A mind is a house and the (((heart))) a defiled sanctuary

What is a what if, if what is is all there is to bridge the chasm

Inside you,

I am now dust of stars and the road for you here,

(((Effulgent Light of Many))), is covered in memory’s

Fire

stars dull dress stygian nights 
you walk radiant, flowering 
amidst the garden of the abyss 

claret rivers stampede thin veins watered down in forget
echoes nulled 
Effulgent Light of Many, the only seed I watched flower
from the dust of stars whose road lies
Inside you.