Rhapsody for Horn, or the Jeremiah Weeping Papers

Rhapsody for Horn, or the Jeremiah Weeping Papers

I. Treble

I left

            the window      open,

found you

            creeping through;

closed my eyes,

red-rimmed and buried

                        beneath

your lips.

            my ears caught

the ghost of                  your pulse.

            you pressed

your name       

                        into my ribs.

I sighed a prayer

                        &let you in.

II. Overtone

I wear you, a now-familiar

                        nightshirt.

you caress

            my left-side chest,

                        measuring pulse,

            looking as if to memorize,

                        but you don’t say so.

Instead, you wrap

            yourself around me

                        our palms mirror

            hands on hearts.

Wide-eyed,

            I hold my tongue until

                        we share

            the same space,

                        the same sweet

            inhale

                        exhale.

you wear me well.

III. Rahab

You slip beneath

the curtain slit,

crawl into bed with me.

I want to ask you

how you are,

but already know

the answer.

You are silver, streaming

 into pieces, stashed

between the sheets.

Taste of metal, my lips

catch your

serrated edge,

bleed a little. You carve

me open

kiss the wounds until

we see what hides

beneath.

Layered skin

and muscles

pull away, reveal

raw pink insides.

I bite my tongue

bite your lip

my bruised flesh

begs your tender

misuse.

I press against you,

seeking

to sink into your

bones,

melt into your

forever touch—

 but

you are bolted lightning,

brief

and

heated.

Morning finds you missing,

my hands clench

the space

you leave

behind

IV. Vienna

Wrapped you

around myself-

or                     tried to, anyway.

Wanted you

to be the binding,

one       ripped

seam married

to the other.

You laughed                 at my clumsy fingers,

the stitch in your side

loose.

You kept

your                                         distance.

Wanted to keep my

pride,

but I never      

had talent for

the mending.

V. Adonis

I looked

for you today.

You were not where    

I remembered.

My hand found

the cage

around

the fleshy beat

you used

to measure,

pried away

your                 name,

but

it stained

my palm instead.

I left

            the window open,

prophet.

(Note: heavily revised)

predator

cobra    sink your

teeth

into this skin

again— if i

c    r    a    w    l    e    d

toward you

I would

b

u

r

y

myself beneath you:

sanctuary

of sinew— if i

draped

over

       your

ribs

and laid

b    a    r    e

veins hidden

in my throat,

would you infect the blood,

the bone?

i know

            you are             already

            there,               nightmare

sheen of fever

                      sweat, i   t/w\i/s\t

                                                the sheets

death

            r-a-t-t-l-e

                                    warns, i                        see

your emerald-yellow     eyes

                             over

                                    my shoulder

wicked charmer, i

                        know

you are                         p    a    r    a    l    y    t    i    c

i shake in all the places you                 

                                                are not,

                        beg your

venom  but—

it is

(almost)

morning           bruised light

bleeds

t    h    r    o    u    g    h

the                                           blinds,

illuminates my

reflection.

the eyes are

(almost)           my own;

your     emerald-yellow

remainder

s

e

e

p

s

            away    into

gray

        ish

dawn.

(Note: heavily revised)

stitched corpse sprouting

I sit privileged but breaking. Allí estaba

sin rostro; did we not say, did we not say,

full of contrast, we did not say, and many

people jumped, wake and leap from the

human condition, rodé con las estrellas,

tell them they tell them tell me remember,

we remember, to remember the stars,

look up. Many people jumped, Great Perhaps

hand-in-hand from the south tower,

more alive and closer to death, me sentí

parte pura del abismo, struck pavement

prayers for the sudden leap, sudden dead,

we did not say, we did not say, and we

are all going. The mayor reported the mist,

pink mist in the air, smoking death. I still we

still we did not know we did

not say the unimaginable, how will

we how will how will I ever get out of

this labyrinth? Did you not did we not will

we not pour ourselves out again; and again

will not how will I, covered in marks of

madness, can we never can we ever we will not,

will we ever wake the possibility?

It’s very beautiful over there, Great Perhaps,

perhaps hundreds, hurricane labyrinth

start sin rostro, worse than this no fear

in love, mi corazón se desató en el viento,

en las estrellas. We are all going,

parte pura del abismo, privileged

but breaking.

(Note: revision)