Anniversary

and then who are we? the nymphs who are bad at getting away. caught by celestials, pinioned down with godly hands, pleasure pulled from underneath our fingernails, left with a broken-into body, bloody and blemished. while the god returns to olympus— trumpeted inside the gates of mountain idyll. ichor unspilled. and from the unholy ground we watch apollo, eros still in his side, not even bashful, standing on the root of daphne,

“well, there was this girl.”

scene four

but then we realize, this—this is not new. this ribbed rhythm is an ancient ritual, bodies barren and teeth barred in eden. treason leaving a path of branches and stems. betrayal without even a kiss, or a smattering of silver coins. Just viscid juice, seeping into sinful flesh. and with the skin of the apple still in his teeth, adam, the second earliest, a bone named eve at his shoulder, stares into the probing of his MAKER’s eyes and all that can come from his mouth—

“well, there was this girl.”

30

Rustin Larson

Monarchs and viceroys fluttering over the zinnias air molecules swimming gray tuxedo kitten sleeping on the kitchen floor

the tunnel of the moonlight only a memory take this object and grip it really tightly with your hand turn everything upside down laugh often

I remember Nickerson’s Farms don’t you I remember when gas was 25 cents a gallon Gas War! the signs would say my bicycle required no gasoline but I did take advantage of the free tire pump

white gray pigeons flying overhead like in a commercial for canned spaghetti they served in school lunches

could I allow myself this memory the tomatoes growing in the garden don’t know about sauce

in this moment are my shoes walking away the smell of hot tar is everywhere let’s do this one more time everything is reversed inside my head

31