heliocentric
dear child, our sun does not rise.
when the sun is hidden under earth,
has not yet drawn itself as whole
note on the rough line of horizon,
know we are in its eternal view.
to the Sun, earth and humans are
just one speck of light coming home.
*heliocentric first published in WALTER Magazine, January 2022 issue.
first interview
what to wear
with Grandpa’s socks
*first interview first published in The Heron’s Nest, Volume XXII, Number 3, September 2020
A Perfect Joining of Everything
all the weight of oceans,
Himalayas, telephone wires,
bright scarlet roses, recyclables,
three friends hammering
a treehouse together,
guns, oil, bullets, and bones
bearing down on a center,
a nexus always shifting,
now that it rains or
someone new is born.
*A Perfect Joining of Everything first published in Sons and Daughters Literary Journal, July, 2019
Haibun:
a parent contemplating a Gregorian revolt
*a parent contemplating a Gregorian revolt first published in Haibun Today, Volume 13, Number 4, December 2019
fatherhood–
weathered brown hands
shield a candle
*fatherhood first published in Modern Haiku, Volume 48, Number 2, Summer 2017
la tos
it began small, spaced,
in the back of my mouth
at the top of my throat.
it felt like a tiny hair
on the root of my tongue,
near where nurses depress.
a small cough, una pequeña tos,
but it soon worsened
in the mornings, at nights,
and while lying down.
deeper, more frequent,
caused my knees to bang together.
it was in my lungs.
there was something
to get up and out,
but i could not.
on the afternoon of my last day
in guatemala, in the city of antigua,
i sat in hot december sun
for an hour, maybe more; i slept.
at the end of that soaking time,
i stood and coughed and coughed
and coughed and coughed
until, jaw wide, i slowly
slither-retched an octopus arm,
deep magenta, bulbous,
large, wide suckers,
veiled in viscous, stringy,
shiny slime. looking closer
in its reflecting wetness: my face,
strangely stretched. even more,
i knew it contained reasons i wept,
things i had come to loathe.
*la tos first published in Carve Magazine
Three poems in The White Elephant
*i dream about going mad, second grader, and born each day first published in The White Elephant
don’t live in new york
he stood jitter by the bar.
black, lonely, self-conscious large,
sweat-clear white collar shirt.
they, a smooth step, words away.
one dressed sway red glitter.
the other, pale, laughing.
he gathers, slow sprouts courage
to cross the chasm, readies.
two men swoop in, boisterous,
engage, like old friends, new lovers,
in the polite sense of it. electric music
mattes the foursome like soundtrack.
black, alone, self-raging,
he steadies his index,
pushes it into the bar candle’s flame.
holds finger, stares through
what is in front of his eyes,
whirls, turns back, slaps cash, leaves
*don’t live in new york first published in Spillway 22
teacher pockets
i got my teacher pockets
full of golden tickets,
a crumpled paper airplane,
unfolded; blue and green
giraffes, smiling.
a pen cap, black,
a chewed pen, blue.
there’s always juice-
straw-wrappers,
from the bus ride home.
i got back pocket pencils
point end down, for prevention,
they always end up broken.
i take home scissors,
repossessed for reason.
string, yarn; that day we made
masks from paper plates.
like mardi gras,
their perfect black faces
outshone bright glitter and beads.
*teacher pockets first published in Backbone Press
♦
Gideon Young 