Looking Out Over Something Senseless, It’s Just Me For Here Now, and Speaking

By Emma Kushnirsky

Looking Out Over Something Senseless

i want to crumble you (town) in my reaching palms
stretched me inside out to be here
i could climb your sides (house) up to the roof and look out
the sun would burn, i’d be quiet

town-like-me
wet with lies, twining streets
empty heads, shining eyes
buildings squat, attics wide

laid my head down in your lap (town) and 
plead
you carried your mystery in your mouth 
cheeks bulging

the sky stitched its hem
to anything that would yield
long enough for the needle
to pierce its hide

the trees joined hands with 
anything that didn’t 
stay close-fisted
when everything did 
they cried and exhaled 
their inhale, CO2

you (town) hurt and create me 
when the trees said 
don’t carve me with a butter knife
we took an axe to them

It’s Just Me Here For Now

did you know that
we could flow with the river
and not hurt a solitary thing?

we could dance with shaking hands shielded
by solid waist and shoulders
and skin that ripples over
muscle

when my arm muscle twitches 
i wonder if it is trying to tell me something 
i shouldn’t ignore
i rotate my arm to free it

Speaking

Speak to me
with strangeness in your pocket
and a sense of self
perched on your shoulder
a bird
that could take flight
or remain to roost, ruffle its feathers

Speak to me
with round, solid humor in the palm
of your hand
and the child within you
adorning your clothes
a shine
whose quiet luster 
gives you something you need

Speak to me
without effort
pushing into your throat
so that words snake back into your belly
and you can be humble 
at long last.

Process

These poems were written in the moment—there was not much process or intention to their writing. They simply have to do with what I was feeling or thinking at the moment.