< monomers

The inkbrush night swept
aside my troubles,
as sleep often does,
in a graylit stroke wide
across the horizon.

Within its hold
I was stripped of skin:
my tendons reduced
to a few palmfuls of breath,
the solar wheel overhead turned
to the crunch of gravel,
steady underfoot.

The mountain presumes nothing:
it stood before me, and stands still,
soundless in the dark.

Along its flanks I saw
a long chain of stars
tumbling upward
into a cloudless sky,
clusters of molecules seeking
permanence in the vault above.
Sublimation:
together we phase changed
into the sublime.

==

Day broke and we descended
back into the milky sea:
changing swiftly as we struck
the final asphalt, exhaling steam
and stumbling back
into a child’s crouch.

1150 yen in hand
for a bus ride back:
packed into its aisles
hugging our packs to our chests
we stared at each other
with the faces we’d thought forgotten—
silent and bewildered.

---

This poem was written for the CCSF Introductory Poetry class in Spring 2020.