2) It is hard to be concerned with that which does not concern you.
3) Sentiment is the enemy of reason.
4) This light recalls you to me — stormy afternoons, pink-tinged. Sorrow.
5) When you look at me like so, rubbing your hands together,
I know that you are the fly, and I am the dead meat.
6) And yet, she knows that deep ocean waves make the earth ring,
bell-like, and hum
that the conversation of elephants is subsonic
that trees can “speak” to each other (chemical signals/tangled roots)
that their perfumed breath births clouds and seeds them
that we come from the stars — thus we rust, oxidize
(what’s called “aging”)
that she did not believe in magic until she learned these things.
by degrees: first, second and third
i was not trying
to be difficult.
too this, you moaned. too that.
it just … happened.
how else could i express
to you the brutal, cosmic scope
of my love?
it was as if i’d held your
hand to the naked blue
flame and dared you
not to flinch.
Kirsten Imani Kasai has published novels, short fiction, poetry, essays, and articles in numerous print and online publications in the U.S., Canada, and Romania. She’s the publisher of Body Parts Magazine: The Journal of Horror & Erotica. Dedicated to guiding writers toward the fullest expression of their voice and work via MagicWordEditingCo., Kasai holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles and is certified in the teaching of creative writing. You can find her reading at the Narrators San Diego or teaching at San Diego Writers Ink. Her fourth novel, The House of Erzulie, will be published in February 2018 by Shade Mountain Press. Fiction, audio, video and more at KirstenImaniKasai.com.
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