she was a mighty song from the earth
she was flesh breath desire
she was the sky a shroud
dark towers like teeth
graves without coffins
coffins without the earth
she was
love turned sideways
into truth
she was an orchard
in full summer the flowers
pregnant drifting
she had many wings long impossible feathers
each a constellation and sorrow
she was cursed
with the terrible blessing
to live
in a broken dream
a country swimming in blood
a mad king
swimming with the dead
laughing
she saw
everything
herself
arching over
a sky
of smoke
and cold fires
row after row
of tree stumps
sinking under the gray river
her words
bolted
into history
Charles Talkoff’s short fiction has appeared in, JMWW, Underground Voices, 3QR, The Midway Journal, and The Urbanite. His poetry is forthcoming in, Visions International and Dime Show Review. He lives in Chicagoland.
