Space junk
canopies glisten—wasp nests—maintain catastrophes—your
fingertips—dawn dwindle—didactic whimper—whistle to
my drumbeats—echo from atmosphere—telescope star
scape—fire flew—over the field—
//
soon we will be tidal waves—trees pulled out of ground—
whipped with branches—I churn moon clouds into beaded
bracelets—to be sold on sidewalks—you wait on the top of a
cliff for birds to balloon you—a deep lake simmered by blue
silt—my silky breath milks honey—against currents of hollow
ghosts—we live on the bottom of an ocean—amongst trash
//
coal dipping into stardust—sedimentary iron cells—
carbonating tongues—drilling into sand—mess upon mess—
water upon water—trees above trees—canopies reach the
ozone—disintegrating with raindrops—infusing oxygen—
break the panting sky—pulled by earthquakes—how
shattered rocks form salt inside fire—singing trees sleep—a
line of fishing rods across the equator—collide with our
sighs—dew drop salt hills—my private cemetery—what do
you hold on to—my dear—if the earth turns black
rescue reality // beyond veil of analogy
(with fragments from “Ascendant Sign” by Andre Breton)
a cloud dropped from the sky / motor
universe beyond / substance transgresses
sense / vibrations pull lightning / cows
lay down and dream / still water wing /
I listen as blood saved / an accurate well-
spring of insanity / horses circle around /
hold on to trees / a cloud spills ants / spills
rain / spills milk / once a creamy sky of
vanilla / of orchid weaving into orchid /
//
cirrus smears / sleeping insect / dream
thunder residue / slow motion shattered
head / smoke-spilled eyes / clairvoyant
mirror / bullet storms / bloated boulder
whales stampede blue / freeze my silent
balloons / blue haze paint drops / gravity
horses run shadows / radiate my nomad
glow worm / my wrinkled quilt / empty
electric blue ocean / I smoke your fog
from a mountain dune /
//
snow milk / dream of bigger fishes / of a
sky drawn into little birds / we always wait
for rain / now the house is flooding / pull
plastic out of the mud / apprehend supreme
destiny of the mind / gathering of spirits /
disappearance of apologue / to belong to
pine trees / to udders / to the only manifest
truth / in this world /
Jamie O’Connell lives in the Bay Area, where she received her MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. Recent poems have appeared or will soon appear in FIVE:2:ONE, Eunoia Review, Califragile, OCCULUM, bad pony, Cacti Fur, and elsewhere. She spends most of her time with her majestic zebra-striped dog/direwolf, Daisy. Visit her site here: www.jamieoco.com.
