Recently, some cool poets visited our city of Asheville, NC from Baltimore, Knoxville and Oakland. We convinced them to stop by the studio on their way out of town and record some work. Here is number three in Jasmine Cindy. Listen and read…
*
lick you with my young tongue
listening to men defend men
I chew glass
in dreams
*
I am training to be an Obedient Pet
so that you might want to keep me
in your House of Adoration
if you say Stay
watch how my hand
sticks to the doorframe
if you say Please
watch how i arch my back
belly up and eyes
docile
if you say
Meet Me in the Mojave Desert
i say Yes
i’ll be there on all fours
to show you how my soft skin
dries on the salt
how my teeth gleam
in the heat
*
the man who is looking to cheat on his wife
tells me that he is a very transparent person
he says the way i rest my chin
in the palm of my hand
he says the way i tilt my head
will make men want to give me things
i’ll be gone by morning
i’ll be gone before then
*
was i an object maker
or just an obstacle in the room
heavy, but reliable
in january the pink sun is reflected
in the wet street
my chapped face
reflected in a smudged mirror
i only do things every once in a while
but in summer
the asphalt warms my back
as i turn my head to see
two sides of exiting light
*
Christopher
if i am sleeping i can make this time pass faster
i go back bed at 2pm
holding a cold white rock
in my right hand
the rock is from long island
here is what the moon looks like above long island!
i close my hand around it
and tuck my fist against my collarbone
i wake up holding a warm right rock
in my right hand
it is my warmth in the rock. i put it there.
do you think i reached its center
do you think my warmth reached to its center
*
i sleep better in your room
because it’s cleaner than mine
and wonder if i’m too easy to please
a bundle of murmured
Yes Yes Yes Yes
You, walking up Her stairs to Her room
Me, walking up Her Stairs to Your room
30 days of rain is enough for anyone
13 months of longing is enough for anyone
a 3000 mile journey for flowers
and My Magnolia
SOPPING WET
*
Things I Don’t Say
a burdensome object
is sometimes an anchor
but my Love is not a lighthouse.
my Body is Not a place you enter
to apologize
for the time spent gone
*
So There
today i ate 20 strawberries
and didn’t go to the wedding
*
i am petting a dog
when i realize
i am petting the dog the way that i pet you
i am petting you the way i pet a dog
behind your ears is my favorite spot
the bend of your arm
is my favorite spot
the hard parts of your hands
the hard parts of your hands
*
Heatwave Girls
writhing in the house
spoiled food swelling
in the dripping refrigerator
we move slow
All Day
in July
my phone:
an appendage
my mood:
On Fire
i drag my bed to the roof
to avoid the trash inside
and start to accumulate trash there also
i am always looking
for a clean place to lie down
and then ruining it
the roof begins to resemble my bedroom
and i lay awake
empty cups around my pillow
collect a halo of rainwater
when it finally breaks
through
*
She Looks Like Me
if they were to describe us they would say:
Brown Hair
Brown Eyes
Petite Frame
Nice Waist
we are both flowers
in the same season
we are both vicious
when scared
I want to tell her
that when I emerge
I will be a different shape
my 25th year
in bloom
*
I am trying to remember what it felt like to wake up and not love you
I am trying to remember what it felt like to love you
before I was afraid of you
I am learning what the difference is
between yelling
I DON’T WANT TO BE
A SOFT THING ANYMORE
and then not being able to wilt
if i tried
*
posing with your roses
in August
I’d like a trophy that says
“Lasts the Longest”
nothing is ever all bad
smiling as I crouch in my corner
*
Rain During Preakness
that i want to be the one who got away
is a lie i’ve told
I want to be the Prize Winning Horse
who is injured in the race
and euthanized on the track
to the horror of
her undeserving fans
____________
Catch the rest of our Writers On Tour in the upcoming month. Damn fine bunch.
