july

BEE LB

i am avoiding exaggeration for fear of retribution. always,

eyes over my shoulder. my own, another’s, the past’s

it hardly matters. the sky opens like a wound. i open my mouth

a weak metaphor falls out. i cannot contain anything i hold. still,

i try. i dust the shelves or watch decay gather. given enough time

the result is the same. none of my results have come back yet

i’m certain. of what, i could tell you but i cannot say. i am waiting

for ears like my own to listen. waxy, unused, paired parallel to a

mouth incessant. the children screech & i wonder until i fall

upon the date. a different kind of wonder, time. a different kind

of child, i. the tongue of the day licks its teeth, swallows hard.

i meet the end’s eyes, raise my chin, ask the definition of defiance.

BEE LB is an array of letters, bound to impulse; a writer creating delicate connections. they have called any number of places home; currently, a single yellow wall on unceded Anishinaabe land in Michigan. they have been published in FOLIO, Figure 1, The Offing, and Harpur Palate, among others. their portfolio can be found at twinbrights.carrd.co and they can be found at patreon.com/twinbrights.