i approach a field. a black piano waits

cypress and golden rose, plucked at the chill sunsetting,

laurel, amaracus, and dark december vine

on the uncovered flesh of anyone brave

going back to the root is stillness

chilled in the path of darkness

asking to be bent, taken by firelight

freedom from fear, purity of heart, constancy in sacred learning and contemplation

Works Cited

Abdurraqib, Hanif. The Crown Ain’t Worth Much. Button Poetry, 2016.

Bhagavad Gita. Penguin Classics, Penguin Books, 1962.

Choi, Franny. Death by Sex Machine. Sibling Rivalry Press, LLC, 2017.

Churchill, C. Petals of the Moon. C. Churchill, 2019.

Lao-Tzu. Tao Te Ching.

Translated by Stephen Addiss & Stanley Lombardo. Shambhala Publications, Inc., 2007.

Smith, Clark A. The Dark Eidolon and Other Dark Fantasies. Penguin Books, 2014.

Vuong, Ocean. Night Sky With Exit Wounds. Copper Canyon Press, 2016.

Poems

Bhagavad Gita. 16:1

Beg. Death By Sex Machine. Choi, Franny.

Crescent. Petals of the Moon. Churchill, C.

To George Sterling: A Valediction. The Dark Eidolon and Other Dark Fantasies. Smith, Clark A.

Queen Under the Hill. Night Sky With Exit Wounds. Vuong, Ocean.

On Melting. The Crown Ain’t Worth Much. Abdurraqib, Hanif.

Tao Te Ching. Ch. 16.