riverside (poems), etc.
poetry and updates, a year since last posting
below lie four poems i must release, largely inspired by the LA river
learn more about the river here:
[gabrieleno.tongva] [#tongvaland] [the once & future river] [friends of river]
enjoy. see you at the bottom of the email <3
one
drought reports
fictitious—how could
this current
thick, filling my grip, bound
only by her container: open
cement slopes for miles and my
calluses softened
like leather, etched stitched
dyed with roses and
time—how could she flow?
built expertly, natural
as gods kissing with lips, theirs,
always glittering and
theirs. water, skin, water
skin, flamboyant
with cinnamon sugar seafoam
crashing, ah! floating
yet bottomless, i
breathe deeply,
persisting underwater, just
body in body on body over
dirt, dust, tv static. swallowing,
surfacing
secrets
i think the city feels lonely because the river used to flood, and i think filthy
water baptized me once, my fingertips red and cold ever since, i
press my hands between my body and the bed and crack my back
without sitting up
watching the condensation on my window drip. my
gymnastics coach would stand on my
toes in a warehouse at 8:30 in the morning on saturdays — my
toes were so cold, walking was hard, let alone
flipping. by the end, i cried like a coward every
practice and cleaned my face up before carpool. i’m wearing
two pairs of socks and no underwear,
carve the sleep from my eyes and walk outside
maybe i’ll tell the highways over the hills that
murmur that these fleas
crawling under skin were from
grandma, feet to concrete, burning unless
wet dead leaves protect me
haggard river
surface glisten
inverted behind my eyelids, she doesn’t tell me
sabbath
ernie my neighbor looks like
me, my god, black clothes blue tattoos, blissful
at 80something and a better buddy than the
bearded 20something down the street who’s
never rolled a joint, buying 16dollar sandwiches —
body — on a break from his screenplay
bicyclist rides past, squeezing
IPA — blood — into their open mouth
from their rainbow-stickered water bottle
a litter of grey kittens sidewalk scuffle, i blush,
geese honk, little dogs yip at my skateboard;
an arc, i don’t fall
mom calls, watching church on her laptop.
years ago, i told her jesus made no sense to me
last winter, i took her to mass on christmas eve
to say “peace be with you” to people.
maybe the vegan bakery barista would install
stained glass if i asked nicely
maybe he would if his car trouble’s sorted out.
discounted coffee and i sit on walls
closing our eyes and facing the sun
i’m everyone
nana drove this same beige corolla.
did auntie sell the car, are the tires
sinking under a bedsheet somewhere?
no headphones notice
everyone: gutter piss bottle graffiti
antiques before tungsten light
the current’s breath
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hi update time!
new year + pluto in aquarius has me reflecting, which of course has me writing, which of course leads me here
since i’ve last posted, i’ve dealt with car issues, worked on a farm (milked my first animal!), threw an event for trans people and talked about anti-trans legislation, experienced grief, traversed across alaska alone, written songs, performed my music, hung out with my cat, unionized, tried an erewhon smoothie, taken photos of beautiful people doing beautiful things, and found bliss in doing chores. what have you been up to?
i’m cooking up some creative projects (writing about arts and culture, playing with different film photography methods, recording music, etc.) and i’ll surely post about all that to this email list and/or on my instagram
thanks for listening <3 wishing you well