Skeleton [Shaken I download “Aura” and “Calm” to quell my]

Deborah Landau

Shaken I download “Aura” and “Calm” to quell my

kvetch—what if? what if?—after midnight it verges

extreme. In this moment you are safe says app lady, handoverheart.

Let’s say that’s true, hm. Does mantra work as

explodes the tunnel and the train fills with fire?

Top-heavy ruminations send me spiraling again

oy vey decimating yet another night. Can’t sleep.

Now for some music, try some dancing? Nah. Still blue.

Skeleton [So after a year undercover wind feels air-]

So after a year undercover wind feels air-

kissed fresh obscene on unmasked skin my face all

eek don’t look at me. The new style of summer’s bare-

lipped & everywhere faces display

eager & flagrant a stampede of

transgressions. Sky-air hits mouth-skin like

Deborah Landau

2023

flesh [I thought a lot about your body,]

I thought a lot about your body, my body,

what it is to lie in bed together and sleep.

To the shores of silent-dark and back

we went each night, like that wasn’t a mystery.

Our physicality grew more hulking.

More and more I had to squint at the mirror

to recognize my face, that cracked window.

Deborah Landau

2023

flesh [Kissing his cheek.]

Kissing his cheek. Swallowing water. An orgasm.

Blooms on the nightstand. Too many peaches to eat.

A bit of that drench. A residue.

Can’t reenact though we try and try.

Ecstasy belongs to the past, when twenty,

when back then, when all-out and youth burn.

A lyrical time. I revisit it in dreams

Deborah Landau

2023

Poems

Skeleton [Shaken I download “Aura” and “Calm” to quell my]

More by this poet

Skeleton [So after a year undercover wind feels air-]

flesh [I thought a lot about your body,]

flesh [Kissing his cheek.]

Poems

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Skeleton [Shaken I download “Aura” and “Calm” to quell my]

More by this poet

Skeleton [So after a year undercover wind feels air-]

flesh [I thought a lot about your body,]

flesh [Kissing his cheek.]

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