Gesture [to describe him as strong as pine.]

in the after-sex lay-about fails

the inexorable nature of his wounds.

to be from such a place.

to admit to his own undoing.

to wreck to earth like sliding snow.

manipulations in ruin. how is it

once eyes have seen buoys set adrift

in the swell. we could not unknow

the distance between an angel’s hand motion

& the twitch-willed bells of our bodies

like wooden puppets. the mistaken palsy

of love chiming each limb from limp

to alive. waves whipping waves down

silken ligaments from the cloud curtain.

per the illusion of him. of me.

O celestial hand. subtle and precise.

when I meet you as you wish

all I ask for are loose wrists.

TA Penny is a poet, educator, collagist, and community organizer from Mississippi, currently based in Brooklyn with their cat, LB2