concertina
after the time
some are renewing passports
stockpiling meds
expendables left to burn
vice to clamp my thoughts
before slippage old dog sees it
despite blind eye inability to endure
a wail no longer contained
some just part time just passing through
just working class parents earning some authenticity
dissonance of memory bound as we are
by the smell and taste of it
show me is another demand of the functional
neurotypicals urge you to keep trying
deriving pleasure from struggle
privilege consolidates protects its own
visualization part of the kink
vanilla as a fully embodied flavor carrier
sparkling dank carbonation effervescent personal
connections another iteration
multilayered ableist trifle
learned to live without photographs
or place or objects externalities stripped
sadness of vigilance distrust necessity
yesterday shuts door there can be no
expectations crossed the river
ate what was displayed
tomorrow arrives empty-handed
expect no mercy from armed men
or their spiritual leaders
the elect the chosen the few the beloved
the pure the cadre
of opportunity for some dream is an abattoir
not as if there was no warning
chickens come home to roost
mercenaries eye strongbox
someone always wants to own river
and rain that falls grifters invest in better suits
get some scripture alternative narcotics
some just long to wield the pliers
best to keep that hurricane box year round
gas in the car even without a safe destination
even without a clearing forecast it gets better
for some it gets and gets some more
from the beginning
the first obstacle to overcome
all we were taught dependency
on good intentions
it gets as it always has better just round
another corner sly diminishing
if you’ve never been behind the wire
how can you know the taste
of what lies beyond
the rainbow served up daily
hot and fresh
investment potential-
community just across the river
fluid always out of reach gators
basking
turkey buzzards climb thermals
someone turning water
into some other spirit claims to transform
violence as if it isn’t the thing itself
another principality of sky
【taste
metallic tropical a long sour poured
into a mug broken handle smoothed
to an anguish
fatigue is a luxury】
curvature
of shell horizon empty wind in cabbage palms
endless motion light pierced waves
Gulf in all its immensity fragrant with unseen
most of what we’ve known of this life
binds us here one to another
wave to shore spoonbill to conch
we always asked too many difficulties
nothing so empty as the departing
we remain unwilling to leave our own
revealing interior
peeling onions
someone must weep
we are not useful creatures
beyond river behind gates
calendars marked our days
numbered
seasonal tradition permits
not required heritage demands sacrifice
a harvest of those that will not graze
content behind the wire
we cannot acknowledge unseen uncontained
unsaid only the lie remains burnished
a different glittering truth divergent text
worked into flesh a weary litany
relentless as tide hammock elevation
dank fragrance fern
mangrove rooted in the only certainty
of ink or word
some mornings
we see what we have eyes for
reading glasses broke a month ago
balance with a tweak and a squeeze
demanding stillness for focus
no way to untangle thoughts
left to celebrate
degradation or arrival
of sweet potatoes
words crisper than pork rinds stepping off scratch
another
meridian crossed another boundary
that will not contain curvature
of shell horizon empty wind in cabbage palms
stars struck from old currency each wave
a name once uttered redeemed
escaping tide
escaping hunger predation
snapping at our backs
gulf work-
keeps singing
shoes are for colder climates flip-flops
good enough here
simmering pole beans
oil at temp for chicken wings saturation sky
wind off Gulf
sparking underbellies clouds float rain
past our dry sand patch of tomatoes
it’s fitting to run out and yell
at the stately
procession dumping rain in the bay
it was silly to think you could learn
all the words a key in one hand lamp
the other of shadow and thicket
a deep stillness where smallest
mosquito thrums against ear eye pulse
points she said
【what will you do when tomorrow
shows up empty-handed】
definitions
begin to grind
even seed corn
by now you should know
cross river however you can shave
your consequences thin as possible
coming south sandbar welcomes all equally
with indifference
【you can leave
but it will not sever
this place has grown into through you
feel the little tap dance in the skull】
swing that hoe grubbing out roots
centipede grass planting snap okra
black amber sorghum conch cowpeas
tomatoes chiles
we go on and on 【 sliding brokenness
into a back pocket 】
living off as little
as possible smoothing such as we can
falling teaches balance
time holding her hand
after digging out roots
pulling weeds it’s damp here
sand ridge ancient dune
falling is a flow a bleeding out
of time such as our kind taste
each day
less sand more dirt
when light encapsulates dust
palm
fronds angular shadows when all that was abandoned
is less than
weight of love poured
into our hands
you become what was made of you
surprise all round
【when you become
when you become 】
eye threads needle hand
fallen into fire lifts light
from ember lifts word from tongue
lifts weight lifts light
【when you become 】
a door opens table
is set candles
are lit a box of matches
in your hands
when you become
your dead lie down all their stories spent
night blooming cactus unfolding
glyph is not entanglement of intent
we are what was carved in soft stone abandoned to weather
story known by touching our faces
【 singing
spinning in tall canopy an other we have become】
variable companion
moon sluiced light through high
window lifting weather out of the Gulf
we stand alone
tide comes tongue of a different shore
name no one uttered before
echo of place
light on waves warmth of hands
pine slab barked incipient
with flame always heart
burning burning disembodied
charcuterie
coarse salt cracked
black pepper
Peach Delphine is a trans poet from Tampa, Florida.