having come far
you feel half-begun
the tree’s leaves bud & bloom
just as they had to all along
i hadn’t eaten subsequence in ages
i hadn’t aged since i was a kid
having discarded
all my certainties
isn’t it right that i should fade away
quite fast & wholly
or do i try to
consume the contrasts &
holy definitions of things
until my tongue is raw &
exhausted from praying
i’ve not slept prayerless since i was a kid
i have not fled a single river i made
trusting the green of spring
to follow the sleep of winter
i always hesitate,
what if this is the last time
what if it was all along?
Header photograph © Matthew Yates.
Mathew Yates is a poet and artist from Kentucky. His work can be found in Memoir Mixtapes and forthcoming in Rhythm & Bones.
Leave a Reply