the edge of hunger.
the edge of slight.
you look bored.
carry it lightly.
carve deeper into waterline.
highlight.
it is the birds that eat the scarecrow’s fallen face.
god is an artist, painting shadows.
rest in the socket of his eye.
buy the heavy winter pomegranate.
be the seed his teeth crack open.
be polar opal marrow.
keep your ring the same size.
crush hard. detox. honeymoon.
I ask how to conduit.
I ask what calls the pythia.
what mouth filters sweet the air inside your home.
she smooths her skirt out in the office.
turns her floral calendar.
they crop her from the photos.
they ask me over wine what has happened.
what has happened to the children.
they ask how when for how long.
did you carry them.
for what.
did you drown them.
what could you have reflected.
with no subject.
what could you have accomplished.
without keeping underfoot those.
who know they must stop speaking to hear you.
Marina Kraiskaya is a Ukrainian-American writer and editor of the journal Bicoastal Review. She recently won the Markham Prize for Poetry and has been nominated for the Pushcart and Best New Poets. Find her in Poetry International, Southeast Review, Mississippi Review, L.A. Review, Zone 3, The Shore, EcoTheo, Deep Wild, Leavings, and other journals. She lives by the sea with her two cats. WEB
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