object [abject] permanence

a poem by Ari Kanji

moonlit wandering was a welcome hobby /
a curse of witches and warlocks
                                                                                                and good ivy, poisonous
to the touch of an unnamed devil /
may pray the spores away, the guilt
                                                       seeping in half naked on strange men’s patios /
                                                                                                      weirder and weirder
wilder and wilder /
burning the leaves, the meadow, the grass
                                                                      growing parasite-like on tarred fences
listen to it, to the weird cries - the broken one’s /
bones a twisted artpiece
                                                        martyred and mangled and cooling with spit /
                                                                                               tar leeching in its eyes /
                                                    feathers askew on an unseen angel’s broken back
bent under a weight like stop
don’t go
let us be us forever
let us be buried bruised and coughing promises
let us be us forever

✶

Ari Kanji (they/them) is an author, playwright, and spoken word poet based in Toronto, Canada.