Licorice and the Underworld

Ummm yes,

of course

I noticed

the blackbirds

buzzing their eulogies

round the loft

in which I lay,

and though assured

this was a sign,

I couldn’t quite figure out

what the hell it all meant,

staring out the window

thinking of

licorice and the underworld.

And somewhere in

the nearby distance,

the queen of the sycamores and snails

moves back to the city

because the wi-fi was spotty

in the deep of the woods.

However,

I did still see

magic

standing behind me

in the mirror,

it rising off the earth

with the steam after the rain,

and magic in the ethereal periphery

of my brain waves,

but honey,

make no mistake,

just as often

I sipped black coffee

next to death

(who took 4 sugars in his

and always demanded a fresh pot be made)

at little cafes

across this wild constellation of continents,

in the earliest of mourning morning hours,

and I let him get me drunk off pitchers of cheap beer

during drag shows

at nearby bars in Atlanta,

wore frumpy clothes

when we went out together

so he’d always be

the prettiest thing in the room,

and I choked on

tough pieces of meat

in restaurants,

because oh my

did that boy death love a tease.

And fuck yes

I took note

that exorcisms

are coming back in fashion,

but we were

the sovereign witches

of our time,

and we found

the heaven we were calling out for,

right here,

stomping the earth with our bare feet,

stirring up the fires from deep in the ground,

dancing in their godddamn flames,

sizzle rhythms,

teeth glistening

to the treetops,

to the moonlight,

screeching til the sun came up

from around

our vision’s edge of the horizon.

Even so,

I lost you to

phone lines

and billboard signs

that littered the

golden sky around us

as we struggled

to find any space

that could still be called

“nowhere”.

And by the end of the day,

no matter the smiles or the tears,

I found a home

in banging me head

on the bathroom tile floor

as I turned to shower on

so hot it gave me blisters,

banging my head,

banging my head,

bleeding a little

from the ears

just to be aware

that I was still alive,

even if just barely breathing.