2 poems

by sofia herzog

Brentwood School

Graph Paper

a body is
something
of window
pane that
encases &
unfolds a
sense but
cannot go
jackknife
without a
serriform
aching of
verge

Amorphous

make eye contact and
crack your knuckles.
what’s next? soft and
careless. you kept
sleeping and never forgot,
never had the right to leave.
otherwise, repercussing and
scraped from the inside of
a cheek, your culling
finger and mine hooked
and tugged for a lean. 
chock full of addresses and
letter stamps, changing all
my dates back and back,
envelopes stuccoed with popsicle
juice and i am still holding
you
until the chain links lose them
selves, the rituals we taste in
our palms and stand, eager to
feel.  you fool, just the same.
more than myself, i love, but
that ain’t much.  open up, say
aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh
here i am.  the tense what is
/ what was.  old wounds, an
exit.  soggy breezeblocks
leaking out.  your clothes
pull me down and it’s
a wonder there’s still a word
for a shoulder, however
dislocated they might be. our
bodies jutting out into the air
like wet thorns, pinky length.
count your blessings with
every one of them, all your
flutterings and heaves,
bloodletting into lawn chairs
and collapsing into the trunk. 
your stark reminder of lonely.