Three Poems
Melissa Eleftherion
bullet shells in a post-war field of yarrow
I.
the shell and its wounded
all the little shoots go
in a sounding of light fractures
the littles and their wolf children
up up the thunder dome
their bread-burdened backs
see them run along the bough
II.
a trick is collected laughter
violency nouns the empire
when we name it it becomes
blood and understanding electrics
III.
to refuse to participate in the war self
to shrug off dominion
to be yarrow
with balls hanging out in a cul de sac
flower’s slaughter
my body a discarded bag of flesh
IV.
under the dome
a field of us capitalists
stretched sun upon the thickening eye
irregular conchoidals
I.
Where skin latches for pleasure
it’s a repellent attraction
this comfort
this breaking
umbilicus and its greasy margins
how it all slips in the fracture
sea glass in the ditch
II.
Vestibular parallels
how it is to be between
glass
like pressing your face
against the window of a departing train
like watching the self become a prism
our hearts outside in the open air
looking for wormholes
the conchoidal fissure
III.
One tries to make whole
one dances so cracks rupture
flowers awkward in the margins
sediment in camber
i am a feather, fluffed - then tamped
my belly a gravel cavity
i will dig myself out
raven
I.
The call is a low, hoarse croak
Guttural heart song
Strutting, tufted
The rub of ant guts in its feathers
primaries - petioles
Its molting a sleek fandom of antennae
sacrificial carapaces
II.
There is a rabid eye
What follows when myth breaks you down
What is the weight of magic?
All these little deaths
Rent your alula
All the whisperings grounding
Camber
III.
What’s that gentle flapping
Bell for carrion
Under coverts
Soft fur crawls
IV.
Diagnostic wing surgery
The child reaches in
My side eye radar
My feast of maggots
I claw I cry
I lift
Melissa Eleftherion is a cis queer human, a writer, a librarian, and a visual artist. She is the author of field guide to autobiography (The Operating System, 2018), & ten chapbooks, including little ditch (above/ground press, 2018) & trauma suture (above/ground press, 2020). Born & raised in Brooklyn, Melissa created, developed, and co-curates The Poetry Center Chapbook Exchange with Elise Ficarra. She now lives in Northern California where she manages the Ukiah Library, teaches creative writing, & curates the LOBA Reading Series. Recent work is available at apoetlibrarian.wordpress.com.