Dale Champlin, Aphrodite Stacked, Collage, 2021
Rush
If I drive you
into the ground
a living stake
maybe
a rose
will grow
with flaming flowers
and loud thorns
that catch and rip
anything
anywhere
near
If I lift you
up to the sun
a clear jewel
maybe
light
will bring me
to flickering life
and burn away
the crust and stain
that clutch and sting
even space
even thought
If you fly with me
over frigid seas
where auroras shine
I will offer
my blood
to put right
maybe
a decaying fragrance
of spruce trees
and expansive knives
that rush and twist
into the hippocampus
into the amygdala
nearer to me
than my own
heart
_______________________
Brian Koester