after annihilation (2018)
remember how you cheated on heaven
stared that alligator-angel in its eye & shot it dead?
how your vertebrae surged with joy
shimmered against the skin of your spine.
he left you between dark walls
& corrupting light—heaven-sent heaven
gone to be in the south. with the silent water
among those crystal trees.
& when your jaw sunk into my throat
i swallowed, saw the antler-angels watching.
allowed, a hungry breath will take the world,
if not for wanting, for copper.
allowed, a table-angel will elect the third way.
when you find gods wound, burn it
between your legs—my desiccated heaven
—sterling-elizabeth arcadia (Heavy Feather Review)