inspired by Aja Monet’s “saltwater railroad”

we see them, backlit
by the horizon, teetering
on whiskey-sodden legs.
(our cast-off tails twitch.)
when they see us they
grin, lick chapped lips–
cover the distance faster.
ocean-shine blind, they’re
oblivious to the oblivion
in our eyes. how their
wailing knifes us open;
fills our lungs with salt
longing, red and raw.
(liver. kidneys. heart.)
the fiery border ’tween
torment and ecstasy
searing flesh to ash. fury
tongued, we lash the breeze
with our foxing song, the
wanting in our throat
palpable as coral, weighted
as barnacled anchors.
these, our laurels: the bitter
dread of choppy waters,
the salt-seasoned taste
of salvation’s undoing.

[Editor’s Note: The publication of this poem was made possible by a donation from Space Cowboy Books/Jean-Paul L. Garnier during our annual Kickstarter.]