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.