Poetry by Heather Sweeney
VS
a spoke of hunger for you vs. the blood of a forgotten season
your woodland body vs. my crown and coil
a séance for a past life lover vs. the sacrifice of your least favorite animal
a nest of new pollen vs. a pile of plastic stars
an ex-vandal cradled in my mind vs. the failed eclipse
you speaking with the eloquence of falling snow vs. me eating French fries
palm trees made of glitter vs. fake tits on acid
your lazy heart vs. my lacquered limbs
babysitting Borges vs. a date with Tom Cruise
a pill for everything vs. sleeping forever
a glacier’s timeline vs. a bird moving at the pace of our past
riesling roses vs. a cull of clouds
the rote rot I am vs. a feeling below the words
warden and wish vs. cult and canyon
suture to soil vs. court of error
a pause in the pulse vs. a gram of light
a hole in the graffiti vs. my throne of never
not that I should even care
but this is the shittiest part I can remember
a hive cave of bone vs. a color that never ends
a crystal carcass vs. a year burning with tears
the long scar on my forehead vs. a portrait of gauze
a facetime sunset vs. the memes of tomorrow
our wound and weather vs. a golden cobra on a leash
Sylvia Plath’s vision board vs. Anne Sexton’s twitter feed
a bee dissolved in the basement of my heart vs. a ladle for a star
the slowest aperture of deer vs. towering clavicles of rain
a seam of sap vs. the trees you no longer see
your taxonomy vs. your super shadow
sex with a robot vs. robotic sex
the tide of your voice vs. a broken sparrow
the bird in our bed vs. the field I thought was your face
a happy hour hologram vs. the bile in my bones
a thousand summers vs. our final font
the stranded earth vs. a ditch of rotten flowers
doll possession vs. cheap cocaine
my temple vs. your tongue
the size of your aura vs. fake baptism
peeled birch vs. a skirt made of rain
posing with a dead tiger vs. a stiletto dreamsake
a hot tub vs. an endless cigarette
a lake of black roses vs. a skull of icing
I am not your mother vs. I am not your therapist
ocean trance constellation vs. molten moments
drunk in North Beach vs. high everywhere
a digital breeze vs. an heir for my arrival
a cyclone in reverse vs. verse in a vacuum
notes on my perimeter vs. touching the forest inside us
a spoke of hunger for you vs. the blood of a forgotten season
your woodland body vs. my crown and coil
a séance for a past life lover vs. the sacrifice of your least favorite animal
a nest of new pollen vs. a pile of plastic stars
an ex-vandal cradled in my mind vs. the failed eclipse
you speaking with the eloquence of falling snow vs. me eating French fries
palm trees made of glitter vs. fake tits on acid
your lazy heart vs. my lacquered limbs
babysitting Borges vs. a date with Tom Cruise
a pill for everything vs. sleeping forever
a glacier’s timeline vs. a bird moving at the pace of our past
riesling roses vs. a cull of clouds
the rote rot I am vs. a feeling below the words
warden and wish vs. cult and canyon
suture to soil vs. court of error
a pause in the pulse vs. a gram of light
a hole in the graffiti vs. my throne of never
not that I should even care
but this is the shittiest part I can remember
a hive cave of bone vs. a color that never ends
a crystal carcass vs. a year burning with tears
the long scar on my forehead vs. a portrait of gauze
a facetime sunset vs. the memes of tomorrow
our wound and weather vs. a golden cobra on a leash
Sylvia Plath’s vision board vs. Anne Sexton’s twitter feed
a bee dissolved in the basement of my heart vs. a ladle for a star
the slowest aperture of deer vs. towering clavicles of rain
a seam of sap vs. the trees you no longer see
your taxonomy vs. your super shadow
sex with a robot vs. robotic sex
the tide of your voice vs. a broken sparrow
the bird in our bed vs. the field I thought was your face
a happy hour hologram vs. the bile in my bones
a thousand summers vs. our final font
the stranded earth vs. a ditch of rotten flowers
doll possession vs. cheap cocaine
my temple vs. your tongue
the size of your aura vs. fake baptism
peeled birch vs. a skirt made of rain
posing with a dead tiger vs. a stiletto dreamsake
a hot tub vs. an endless cigarette
a lake of black roses vs. a skull of icing
I am not your mother vs. I am not your therapist
ocean trance constellation vs. molten moments
drunk in North Beach vs. high everywhere
a digital breeze vs. an heir for my arrival
a cyclone in reverse vs. verse in a vacuum
notes on my perimeter vs. touching the forest inside us
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Heather Sweeney lives in San Diego where she teaches writing and yoga. Her work appears or is forthcoming in La Vague, The Hunger, Bad Pony, White Stag, Bombay Gin, Summer Stock, Shanti, and dusie.
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