three poems
Oki Sogumi
Shipwrecks on the sphere of imagination
Freehand diagonals on a charcoal sky
Follow a boy in sopping wool knocking on the inn door at the edge of conflict
Your halo-arrow circles and hovers, unsure
who is the main player
Oxblood on cobalt is a signature dish
Squint at the horizon again, a dog harness hanging loosely on the torso
The gritty of chains against scribbles of hair
It’s unclear how anything dries in the forever wet
My face
it’s parts
all over
we are looking through the wet screen and with a flick
the images are swept away
no drier than when they arrived here
I love the charismatic dropout even as I long for massive participation
Where they meet, unbalanced ships lean on each other
First-person pirate perspective thuds to the surface
[distorted wind]
Dots of rough canvas where light pierces the port fog
At night it’s like the grey milk of a bartender’s rag
All reflections a zigzag and the buzz of a murder mosquito in winter
Fangirling in the age of the shattered mind
I draw a <3 where my words used to be
And where many of us walked along a shoreline or its idea
String of cans
(writing through the Me and the Glassbirds album by Heejin Jang)
spider on the factory floor sorting through the hoarder’s attic containers that never made it to the
radio on in a snowstorm and 1st person shooter on an old television big wave coming in
now with inquiry intensity someone’s asking how did you get here the pings of surveillance instead of
hello somewhat crunchy landing of a high-rise stairwell income of a set painter on strike off for a
month of work whirr of core systems old pipes sparks spray auto shop while you hold a bag of Produce
Junction potatoes plucking the grid tines of a shopping cart emptying the last of the boba cup OMing
face down rubber mat slow motion fly zapper shoes in a bouncy castle rattling the differences
between temple bell and train crossing cans rattling down the road afternoon a skateboarder’s
cruise notification hiccups against lug soled sneakers skid lino as the KIA mockingbird alarm staggers
rubbing the edges of a HVAC filter dribbling the balls and the intervals of tunnel lights is interminable
interference is welcome the cold air outside a club re-entry escalator when you try going up and
starlit walls everywhere deep-sea fishing everywhere contact mics stuck in the blankets motor
revving summit cold face indifferent face unwell heart slivers flying fish a mass of people
tapping the bus crushed by the last tree the whereabouts of an uneasy violin warehouse
district that moment in Heat (1995) when the cops saw themselves being seen Val Kilmer’s ponytail
car sliding sideways eggs moving off a plate the leaking gutter in gurgle of attached houses boom
bap bibimbap bath time for fisheries a chirp in the looming device warp going back ages that ghost
drag or the largest latte art the sky is ad space swiping everything gets nailed down before the big
suction the big sitar riff churn marks to remind players jangle the crab shell and crescent
we live in present time only some of the time and move shapes around obstructed ducts into exhaust
String of cans
Can floor
Can attic
Can it
Can in
Can person
Can television
Can now
Can asking
Can here
Can instead
Can landing
Can income
Can on
Can month
Can core
Can spray
Can hold
Can junction
Can tines
Can emptying
Can boba
Can rubber
Can zapper
Can castle
Can temple
Can cans
Can afternoon
Can hiccups
Can skid
Can mockingbird
Can edges
Can dribbling
Can intervals
Can interminable
Can cold
Can re-entry
Can going
Can everywhere
Can mics
Can motor
Can indifferent
Can flying
Can people
Can by
Can whereabouts
Can warehouse
Can heat
Can themselves
Can ponytail
Can moving
Can leaking
Can attached
Can bath
Can chirp
Can warp
Can ghost
Can latte
Can ad
Can nailed
Can suction
Can churn
Can jangle
Can crescent
Can time
Can time
Can obstructed