Ode to Lithium #9

Our first kiss wasn’t behind the high school. Not in the movie theater’s back row. Not after the first breakdown. It went like this: Me, released from the hospitaljail with a fresh prescription, one bag packed, staying at a friend’s house, with no exit plan or exist plan. Walking the length of a concrete road, I turned & asked: Has it been cloudy for days — ­ & the sun just came out? She said: No, Shira. It’s been sunny all week. So then. It was your sudden mouth. Your broom that swept the sky of its minor chord. There’s no metaphor here. When I looked up, I saw the sun.

my dream: tiny axes IV

a monarch                     y

of hands                     black

glass stained

red

all the trees                    are

touched                          & mad­-

ness mosses                   them.

bell­mouths

the quietest                    flowers

ring my                            name

& bruise the air.

my dream: tiny axes X

eve
                    ry one
likes
                    to be
adam
                    no one
likes
                    to be
eve
                    unless
I am
                    adamant
that I am
                    both
all
                    the men
howl &
                    call me
sugar
                    the women
damned
                    call me
eve