(After C. Bain)
Will I ever kiss you again
on the mouth
with our tongues?
Quarantime
elapses elastic
snapping me back to the dips
of lips alive
I’ve stilled the memories of the making out
even some
who don’t live anymore.
What is the difference?
Everyone is still alive and well
in my head
even if the reality is miss
matched
or the match itself
broke apart.
There are new pains and not good feelings in this body
peri-post-Covid, allergies,age, who knows
anymore, organs an organic mystery
floating planets sending transmissions from interior
space.
The riddle is how do you get your heart back
when it’s already been consumed?
I thief it
from a poet I have crushed on forever
even though they are—by second hand accounts
—unreachable
egoist.
It’s a good question
they edited out.
I chew it, ruminate, marinade
before swallowing.
I’m no longer interested
in editing or redacting
I want everyone all at once
past, present, imagined
while I am socially distanced
not indifferent
inflamed
with desire.
Karen G. is a poet, host & co-founder of Art Amok Poetry Slam and Cliterati, a monthly series in partnership with Charis Books & More. She’s been a presence, voice, supporter, coach, board member & overall spoken word and slam poetry networker & advocate for twenty-plus years in the Atlanta area & beyond. Her poems are published in various anthologies by Swimming with Elephants and Write Bloody Publishing among others and she makes her own chapbooks for featured readings. She works at Emory University’s main library in daylight hours.
Stone Quarterly 