Two Poems by Jaye Elizabeth Elijah

ana-    or up against

cages are not useful      whereas caves are
or crates

                Weimaraner 
                                curls

                                her long



                                body
into the plastic    it might be a womb

                                                                a dream    scape


what can fire do to brick    sesame 
                                                                oil?
                                               cave paintings    sculptures altars
              our sleeping bags    chrysalides
unzipped    
to touch skin    rock    simultaneous

“what do you know about a U-Haul?” you ask
              “I don’t
              I’m thinking about urges”

                                denoting a specific type of scene
urge to rush    to unbutton to sever    to stay

“come back, I want to live together”
can it be earnest?    “can I still hit?”


hollow witch
square pages    against my better judgement

what if these two lovers are new to each other?


this is what a breast tastes like                face of a waterfall
                                wet with algal networking
this is what a breast tastes like
              I find you in the world music section
              release another record that crosses a mountain

every bound body unbound
sweaty worker    woven basket of sorghum
                                (radish/reddish)


                                                                   it is an opening


              the row


              a thread runs through
yanking westward

                                            this is the territory of the creek

topography of a forest             appropriated

                                            (name/remembrance)




I am from the middle


                                                                            you are from the middle



                                            many acres away
and years

there must be imagination in bondage

the way a tooth might be holed from gum    paper stuffed
                in the gaping place

                                            love notes    receipt of fare a bill

you sing to me after the sex

 

Jaye Elizabeth Elijah is a visual artist, writer, orbweaver, and the Nightboat Books Fellow. Their words and images have appeared in Polly Magazine and Rookie Magazine, and were recognized by the Cincinnati Arts Overture Awards. Jaye Elizabeth is pursuing a BA in Literary Studies at The New School, and lives in Brooklyn.