Gayana Artashesyan, Blue Desert
water leaks
Damilola Omotoyinbo
& i watch the cistern become flood. i retreat
into yesterday to gather droplets of joy i have
forsaken. beckon the world to tip me little
of its wonder. when i think of home,
i remember walls falling into each other. a jar
holding a furnace. furnace housing memory
of lost bliss. i wander. God, will you watch till
the world mull me into bits? today, i break
the earth in its famished places. let it eat up
all that has ever mocked me. i carve mouths
on dumb walls. let them creak open to tell
stories–that tomorrow hold no grudge
against me. that grief will make no canvas
off me. today, let joy mantle me. i become
prey to happiness. watch it tear me
open & feast on my misery. don’t bemoan
this ache. tell me that darkness announces
the emergence of light. that grief too
is a gatekeeper.
Damilola Omotoyinbo
& i watch the cistern become flood. i retreat
into yesterday to gather droplets of joy i have
forsaken. beckon the world to tip me little
of its wonder. when i think of home,
i remember walls falling into each other. a jar
holding a furnace. furnace housing memory
of lost bliss. i wander. God, will you watch till
the world mull me into bits? today, i break
the earth in its famished places. let it eat up
all that has ever mocked me. i carve mouths
on dumb walls. let them creak open to tell
stories–that tomorrow hold no grudge
against me. that grief will make no canvas
off me. today, let joy mantle me. i become
prey to happiness. watch it tear me
open & feast on my misery. don’t bemoan
this ache. tell me that darkness announces
the emergence of light. that grief too
is a gatekeeper.