X. asks, “Can we talk about the ineffable for a minute?”
           How each day shakes loose from the null of sleep
                               in subtractive colors: the way we see the spectra of soul-glint.
           Or how we prepare tea & rice and [pre]tend the family tree.
 
O. says, “But the truth is, water falls with the same speed, everywhere.”
           Mobius of spare birds
                                wrap gravity’s
                      curve
           Petal of self—temporary in the fold of
           actuary tables of bees and me and mine —
           double-helixed double-stranded
 
The sad Queen, wildered of thought, does the math:
          negative particle + negative particle = nobody will not lend me a helping verb
Razor & rust the axis of          be          been        being
Raveled the world with raven-edged [s]words
 

===

Notes:

“The sad Queen, wildered of thought” Taken from an example sentence in the Oxford English Dictionary entry for wilder.

“But the truth is, water falls with the same speed, everywhere.” Quote from Olafur Eliasson.

Cover art: “Landscape” by Augustina Droze

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Marjorie Stein

Marjorie Stein’s first book, An Atlas of Lost Causes, was published by Kelsey Street Press. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in American Poetry Journal, Denver Quarterly, New American Writing, VOLT, Mary, and other publications. She makes her home in Northern California with her beloved wife.