This piece was first published in Quarto’s 2019 Spring Print Edition.
Illustration by Cameron Lee
The suggestion of a body}
a cord necklace†,
teeth‡
the smell of muscadines ∇
a limb≀
the repose of a soul‖
} It’s displacement
It’s memory
† loose, now tight, tight her or
him
a choke her or
him,
a call her or
him
‡ dull white bullets
or stones or seeds
∇ like gas burning
≀ a brown branch bleached blanche
a shriek of purity, catching
a ghost with a busted lip
a laugh that bleeds onto
that limb
charred back
charred black
‖ a crowd screaming mercy