He asked what the implications would be
if we were to love each other. I said
planetarium I said hubris I said expulsion—
I could see how the tenor of our time
would be about eating an apple, spitting
out the seeds, it was the way he didn’t care
for poetry, the way he whispered in his sleep.
Why would I pet a donkey when the mare
was out to pasture? The vowels would leave
my mouth before I’d had enough time
to express the brilliance of a plum, sweet
and sour on the tongue. I want you to know
I had good intentions, he could be kind,
and all his planets were rising with Jupiter’s
rings, it’s just that the panic attacks
wouldn’t cease until I was alone, pacing
the living room, searching for stars, snow
landing on a branch. I called a council
of angels, and do you know they appeared
with harps and lyres? But they didn’t play
that night, they only blew a north wind
over our dark sky. Dawn made every
omen clear. The angels meant to help.
Alicia Elkort’s first book of poetry, A Map of Every Undoing, was published in 2022 by Stillhouse Press with George Mason University, after winning their book contest. Her poetry has been nominated several times for the Pushcart, Best of the Net, and the Orison Anthology, and her work appears in numerous journals and anthologies. She reads for Tinderbox Poetry Journal and works as a Life Coach in Santa Fe, NM. For more information or to watch her video poems, visit https://aliciaelkort.mystrikingly.com.
