Caelan
in the box:, by Caelan Ernest
a name / as big as yrs / prefix un- / containable / that which cannot be contained / but again / for the sake / of this poem / i’ll ornament yr name / in my voice / i’ll decorate it with sound / from trinket / from bauble / to ceiling / to rooftop / to a rocket shooting yr every syllable / like lyric / like verse / its gaudy coat / tipped with rhythm / away from here / toward moonscapes / prefix un- / heard / or dreamt of / yet / be weary / this poem is the place / where my object of affection / is prefix un- / made from its oracle / this poem is the space / where my voice / is prefix un- / done from yr spellbind / but / do you remember / how we used to cast halos of water / when we splashed each other / with ocean / trying to preserve the fool’s holy / by now we know / in the coming years / our world will be met / with flood / & what i’ve grown to fear most / is the way yr name will sound / prefix un- / derwater / this language we’ve been making / we’ve committed ourselves to / will not always be ours / this is what reanimates it / this is what has made it ours / even now / i’d gift you / a piece of my voice box / so the sound of yr tongue / would be ours / that mouth / both ours / the lips / both / be weary / this is not a love poem / this is not a love poem / this is the kind of devotion / that leads me straight to pandora’s box / tearing it open / awaiting the next iteration of you / to rise / out from my hands / it will be a kind of rapture / a kind of sin / just picture it / how each bit of styrofoam around you will constellate / make a wig of yr hair / each curl a renaissance / the seaweed & foam yr garb / i can admit / there was a blooming / that all began with yr name / & what makes it ours / what reanimates it / is how soon it will no longer be / ours / which will carry it / like some distant syntactical trace / of what both of our voices sounded like / holding each other’s names / prefix un- / accosted / prefix un- / accounted / prefix un- / atoned / before the water