THERE IS SO MUCH TENSION IN A GEORGIAN JANUARY
there is so much tension in a Georgian January / like / you know / an eighth
grade crush / or / a sitcom couple / will-they-or-won’t-they / in today’s
episode / Georgia brings January a bouquet / an arrangement of clogged
highways & peach trees / (typical) / January’s cheeks go hot / December &
February gossip, hardly / recognize her anymore, this pink & jaunting /
dare of a friend / on thursday / January picks Georgia up from the airport /
knits a scarf out of I-85 & curls it / about her neck, a chill runs / down the
spine of the South & in / through the gap in the car window’s teeth
there is so much tension between / my hand & a Georgian January / in the
year 2088 / they will uncover / my tombstone & the script will read / she
who ached to hold that which was unholdable
in January I am riding / shotgun, in January / I write only in the present
tense / in the year 2048 / I will uncover / my first drafts & in that moment /
it will still be a little January / my fingers still / busy at the corners of / an
oxymoron of a southern winter / what is / holding hands / but the attempt to
latch on to / a horizon as it passes, to clasp / something living above ground
/ but before the sky
there is so much tension between / my mouth & my lover’s fingers / I hold
their second knuckle / beneath my lips, set it / down on the altar / of the
center console, an offering / left for the gods of survival / you know / of
this road trip / or / a night out / or / our own hands
there is so much tension between / my mouth & my lover’s mouth / in a
Georgian January / as / like the winter / we were not intended / to get along
so well / here / in today’s episode / I bring my partner a bouquet / an
arrangement of all the words I forgot / the boys called me / (typical) / their
cheeks go hot / on Thursday / my partner picks me up from the airport /
crafts a sweater out of their own / body & shelters me / in it’s tight knit, a
chill runs / down the spine of the South & in / through the gaps of the car
window’s teeth
there is so much tension between / the space separating our bodies &
everywhere else / what is love but the keeping / of a heart that resides in
two countries / why must we be made / to live anywhere / but here
in this episode / another southerner asks / if I have a boyfriend / tells me /
how much he hates the winter / & somewhere / January tries on a
swimsuit / decides she hates / the shape of it all
on Thursday / the northerners fashion Georgia / into a pocket knife / her
mother South / a hatchet, & tuck / them beneath their tongues / speak on
everything they do not know / except about what grows here
in January I am riding / shotgun & consider / how many offerings can I fit /
onto the center console / is there any god / I can pray to that will save us /
from granting the dignity of our knees / our hands / to a false deity / He of
belts / & / badges / & / bodies that don’t feel / like ours ?
take all my rosemary / take every chamomile flower / let me pour out /
from every honey jar / for You / tell me / your favorite candles / take every
dog eared page / take my bath water / with the good soaps / take all my
firsts / I’ll make better seconds / take every ex boyfriend / good riddance /
take the songs / all of them / it’s fine / take my hand / I’ll let them hold
everything else / take everything else / & leave my hand
please grant us the practice of holding / grant us the privilege of safety
grant us this warm winter / this oasis of ripe country / that just for once /
loves us back
PROOF
conjecture:
a single integer may not be a part of a sum so long as she is not a fully realized integer.
theorem:
so long as two integers exist, flawed or otherwise, they may better serve themselves and each other if given the chance to multiply.
whereas [my hand]
the sum of two parts [my hand] [your hand]
together make [hand]²
a new figure [conjunction of joys]
so do the pieces [hand] [hand]
retain their wholeness [mine] [yours]
while concurrently existing [applause in caesura]
as one [prayer of ovation]
and whereas [the sound of clapping]
two parts exist [my right] [your left]
as single integer [sustained fastening]
might other factors [mouth] [mouth]
entwine as many [mouth]²
become newly singular [ ]
while coincidentally [a tandem gasp]
ever more their own [muscle, slack] [buzzing]
thus two [me] [you]
may more clearly become [keen] [buoyancy]
themselves entwined [hair, sheets, knotted]
yet independent [me][you]²
so one might be engulfed M (you) E
but never vanished Y O (me) U
rather itself [grace] & [blade]
infinitely multiplied [you x me]
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