Paisley with Acanthus and Flower Lashings
Parable with Prana
Self gets electric with ballast
Self gets miniature with bonsai
Self gets confounded with interest
Self unselects their eyes buries
their head in a sweat-wicking towel
so Self’s eyes need watering
so Self gets someone else
Else gets a sprouted can
Else feeds Self the sprouts
We contain the prana of what
We could become They said
I see said the eyes and They
looked ahead though They
didn’t know exactly for what
Lauren Mallett’s poems appear in RHINO, Salamander, Fugue, Sou’wester, Passages North, and other journals. She lives on the Oregon coast. Read more at www.laurenmallett.com.
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