Bedside Pastoral
2 Minutes Read Time
First: fervor for swampland / then hospital socks / Gessoed floors /
like planets of milk— / he is dreaming of swimming / and running /
at once / He is endlessly / about to / Sometimes predreams / are the
wildfires in Georgia that year / the pond cypress / & bladderwort /
aspirin-white / in flame / then this / According to sound / silence
is more capable / According to words / the words will water out /
Trying anyway / Calling it the balder parts / of meadows / Saying
solastalgia / when you really meant / solace / Saying sonar / when
you really meant / so long / maybe . . . / The possibility is there
for goodbye-ing / He is downright / chatty in sleep / He is oceans
away in his boatlike / bed / He is muttering / I didn’t mean love
/ Sometimes fog / is really an ocean / sometimes hospital-room
shadows spring / many-mouthed: / Radiolaria in green phases /
This is hardly / the problem / This is hardly the ghost of / sundew
and pitcher plants / ash-eaten / Calling it / synonym for / tough
place to land / or wrong place to fall asleep dreaming / The room
globed / and green at night / like the deepest parts / of a basin of
water / There is more to the story / There is collarbone / shaped
like a lightning-struck branch / There is / small shuffling drafts /
over well-bitten skin / There is hardly a moment / when you don’t
remember him saying / Forgiveness is a small price to pay / Calling
it memory / & calling his bluff / He was always a cautious child.
Read more from Issue 16.2.
