Asuras by Jayinee Basu

sections from Asuras by Jayinee Basu

 

Eileen Myles Once Described Food

Eileen Myles once described food as the glowing rungs that she could grab onto throughout the day. I think about this in the water of an empty pool. Nearly all water frightens me with its cold and impersonal desire to constantly be murdering. I will drown I know this. I will drown in some kind of ridiculous liquid. I cling on to a metal bar and place my cheek against it. I am falling in love rapidly and I don’t want this moment to be about love, but as it turns out

 

Lights

come here

let me teach

you an object

lesson

the bite of

jealousy in

watching someone else

 

fuck me

is the same

as a hard slap

ringing red bone

 

you loved me

at this point

at this one

and here

 

all these points

can’t make up

a line toward

anything more

 

perfect moments

lack the dimension

needed for

motion

 

Within that Half a Tab

a facsimile of fondness

tenderize me lightly

I can’t handle the rough

shit.

 

you uttering my name

I clutch like a medallion

in my sleep.

Within that half a tab

of acid and your circling

fingers there were

glittering coins falling

from your mouth.

 

the light sheen of your

skin like rose gold

electroplated on a

soft skeleton.

 

Capsule

come with me tonight

i’m going to scream

some choice words

into an empty bomb

and bury it in dirt.

 

some of the words

might go something

like “yo” or like “hey”

or “soup” or “man”

or “brother we never

hang” or “anymore”

 

other words could

include the lovely

“long callused

hands” or the

old standby

“do you love me”

 

you can scream

the more advanced

words like “https://”

words meaning safety

like “burrito” or

“lol shrug”

 

you can scream your

theme song from

this season like

“the outpouring of

emotion from every

little thing, god”

 

you have to bury it

though i don’t have

the upper body

strength to dig

a hole deep enough

for this shit.

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Asuras by Jayinee Basu is now available from Civil Coping Mechanisms.