written by Paul Ilechko

Wring the juices from my throat my head explode in vanity 

you tell me I’m your star boy I’m your star     girl you touch my chest 

our days of being (within) contingency     our days of being     approaching endless

our moth-eaten days our motto of days our dated ways our dating games

remind me how we sit around our round      our rounded table      adjacent as we curve     body to spine

tombstone-like    as smooth as stone as smooth as strobe     a tangent to a light you hold me slightly you hold me     lightly

tree-bladed as periphery     as curving and delicate the curbed and bordered     landlocked within

predictable as blankness as darkness in day     lit like a runway     lit out like a runaway

the shape enclosing     the fix is in 

Paul Ilechko is the author of the chapbooks “Bartok in Winter” (Flutter Press, 2018) and “Graph of Life” (Finishing Line Press, 2018). His work has appeared in a variety of journals, including Manhattanville Review, West Trade Review, River River, Otoliths and Indicia. He lives with his partner in Lambertville, NJ.