Jose Luis Pablo
MYTHIC REFLECTION
Hourglass we form Image imprinted on slate Night mirror
Witness To new creature
Some selfish swallow then Multiply and open Into genesis
Once satyr Once centaur
I hang batlike from Your trunk Surge from guts
And you, Spring canopy
Two heads Outgrow gravity From single seed
Gaze upon this being Name us Ouroboros
We devour as one
PHOENIX
when i am
crumbling cockroach carcass
upturned
desiccated shell
stick limbs
resisting hellpull
i am preparing to be ash
find me in the cupboard
right above the meal
you are toiling over
in death i decay
annihilated by the ants
vivisected
violated
with violence
find me solitary stain
spoiling
your antiseptic kitchen
when i am
dirty debris
murdered by my hunger
my antique instinct
to eat never mind
the poison
never mind the trap
i spring to ingest
injury
my body ravaged
in an instant
tossed into tomb of trash
i disassemble to dust
and create ash
I rise, unholy ghost,
nuclear fire wings screaming
my beak covers the world.
SCAR TISSUE
meaning: not failure,
but new dressing for
a wound that forgives, not forgets
meaning: souvenir of accident,
or new marker
on the map of your wrist:
this is where: metal & my thoughts did not kill me
past participle of an injury & plans that fell apart
(synonym: proud flesh) Horses run even when:
their legs sprout
the suggestion
of an end
(interjection) We can use delusion to conquer pain as we do mountains
(antonym: a mistake is all it takes) to bleed the whole operation dry
(synonym: commonality) meaning, on all of us:
a speck,
ocean of limbs,
the universe of bodies.