Exquisite corpse by Alana Saltz & Pj Kneisel

Forever Song
 
Branches encircle our bodies
 
where we lay in the dirt
There’s no trouble here
 
this is what we’ve always wanted
Underwear strewn about
 
whoever understood our nakedness
Birds circle overhead
 
and sing the strangest songs
Haunted by our melody
 
pouring through the leaves
The moon will be bright tonight
 
and block out our favorite stars
Quiet little eyes
 
that open on new heavens
Follow me across the water
 
where the raindrops left a trail
Dripping towards the core
 
of moments in between
I want to close our distance
 
and let you in

Bitter Perfect
 
In a rain-filled room, I wait for you
skinless and boneless enmeshed together
 
There’s something strange going on here
Munchausen rebels in cascading frills
 
In leaves I find the answers
deer eyes blink in darkness
 
The waiting is what kills me
scheduled cream for two days drink
 
I want to live in the mouth we laid in
dread or not, fresh breathing gills
 
The tongue was the softest part
mention it by name
 
We’re dizzy with the sweetness
seconds don’t count
 
There’s no more silence here
while we wait

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Alana Saltz is a poet, writer, and disability activist living in Tacoma, WA. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The LA Times, The Huffington Post, voxpoetica, Anti-Heroin Chic, The East Jasmine Review, and more. You can visit her website at alanasaltz.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @alanasaltz.

Pj Kneisel's art explores the contradictions between the macabre and the comic. He received his BA in Studio Art from Cal State Long Beach and is the founder of Aorta VI, an art collective. Visit his website pjkneisel.com to learn more about his creative work.