"Next morning I'll confess I overmarmaladed
the toast on purpose, trying to make up
for the chromatic deficiency, for orangelessness,
though the sky begins to show at times
we can observe, now, look -"
"when i am alone, i hear the thrum of blood pumping against my shirt. i feel my mother and grandmother wrap their arms around me until we are all chest to chest, the mirrors of our hearts beating in sync, as unending as the ocean lapping the shore"
"The moment you feel your star cooling off
and so you pull it out of your chest
and stitch it on your jacket like a badge,
or on the collar of your coat
so that others may finally notice it."
"New fires that can scar
As readily as these move
Complaisant hearts to lift -
Are also spectacles
Witnessed by those in love,
Withstood by the very small -
And by laborious making-shift
Rendered common as stars."
"I filled my backpack with rocks
& loveletters to the deep & swung
it into the lake. I grew up with hardened
shoreline instead of sand between my toes."
"But if the blood
Pumping through my veins could freeze
Like the river in Toronto then I'd be pleased
You said I made you feel warm
Said I made you feel warm inside"
"these silent spaces sprout seeds
of a mute beginning
and I am left at the end of the circle
contemplating running the track of
my choices
yet again
breathless
from fear"
"As every new day waking finds its pitch
Selecting a fresh angle, so the sun
Hangs down its veils, so the old verbs
Change their invocation and their mood."