Two Poems
Liquid Protest
After Emma Sulkowicz
I’m carrying the proverbial mattress
I’ve painted it carry that
weight
meaning I’m working on a language
that cuts through trying to turn my
hands
into signs or the idea of signs
I’m working on recognising
gestures grace cherry blossom symbols
small breaths of sweetness that make space
to imagine the language we would we
speak
without violence
I’m working on a plan a new archaeology
of forgetting and remembering through the
spine
the stomach
the chronology
of water
in and
out
of the body
The Red Carpet
the man I once trusted is on the red carpet
the red carpet is made of velvet or felt
the red carpet is actually made of [insert material]
the red carpet is a body on a plinth
the red carpet is thinking about conviction
the red carpet holds so many stains
that they blend into an everywhere stain
the red carpet wants to play a game called
let’s play a game called
how many people do I have to tell
the red carpet isn’t legally admissible
the red carpet is accompanied by the microphone
is accompanied by a suit of suits
is accompanied by there are no gods here
the red carpet remembers in the logic of seams
which sometimes tear simultaneously
like a combustion or self-immolation
maybe I’m talking about nerve endings
the red carpet can’t speak
the red carpet goes through the motions
as if living can change the score
Cover image: Interlocking, 130lbs times two, (Square Knot), 2022, Brie Ruais. Image taken by writer.