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Cover:
Wild Rose at the Center of the Universe
by Lauri Burke
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I. “Are You There?”
are you there—
amidst the arising of sound?
among distant sirens
and autumn crickets crying lust
into the vast, sterile night?
are you there—
approaching as if walking on water,
the gentle ripples
of your steps
forever seeking a sacred shore?
are you there—
lingering like a stranger—
begging like a dog—
wandering like the holy man
i always wished i was?
are you there—
or am I alone
like the shadows say—
breathing life
into creaks in the hall?
II. "Only Questions"
there are no patterns on the ceiling
in the dark—only questions—
existing like mosquitoes
thirsty for blood and sanity.
how does one fly
among falling frogs?
the clock strikes a lonely
3 o’clock. how does one
become an ocean, unaffected
by the chain of the moon?
how does one touch a star
without becoming nothing?
i am bitten. i am drained.
i am looking at the clock again.
how does one really know
when the dream is over?
III. “No Echo”
bodies sound like sacks of meat
when they hit the pavement.
this is one of the few things
i know for sure.
also—death has no echo—
only silence followed by the footsteps
of those like you—but not you—
moving on with the rest of their lives.
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IV. “The Great Kaleidoscope”
sunlight through the stained glass;
i am in a memory now.
there’s a rainbow over golgatha
and the patter of mourning doves
leaving with no destination.
i am forever warped
like that glass, bending the light
simply by getting in the way.
i am the great kaleidoscope!
go straight to hell
and tell the others of the good news.
V. “Slash and Burn”
a spark in the night
turns wildfire
consuming my shelter, my shade.
i am left naked in the wilderness.
a body of ash
former fingertips
touching the horizon.
of what will become of me?
the stirring of seedlings
‘neath this slash and burn self.
out of the depths,
a new face—my original face—
emerges,
flowering in the light
of a rising sun.
i am, in this moment, awake.
(are you there?)
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B. Dixon © 2020
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B. Dixon is an emerging poet whose writing draws on his study of Zen Buddhism and his work with those experiencing homelessness in Boston, MA. His writing has been printed in the J Journal, the *82 Review, the Frogpond Journal, Right Hand Pointing and the Unbroken Journal, among others.