This piece was first published in Quarto’s 2019 Spring Print Edition.

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