I.

Russian comes up through the trees

I’m not myself

sip a stream of light

we fragmented to strips of skin

we harmonized with tongues of sponge

to be a soldier in the forest

II.

I seek to be inside the shaking laughter

I seek to be inside the inside

I’ve scraped it in all directions

I’ve transfixed the flag to the lamp

I can’t help the leaking light

III.

Sipping Borjomi

the sparkling water

of Soviet childhood

the child stole your cigarettes

lifted up her dress

rubbed the pack

on her crotch

IV.

Off-roading in Kazbegi

we listened to Beyoncé

a baptism next to

a wedding in a

tiny church a

drone swooping

overhead

V.

Sometimes I talk to myself

(in my head)

on my walk over to the Writer’s House

listening to Gonashvili’s Urmuli

certain words running through like

the little Wesleyan boys

who stick their dicks into unwanted

places

they think there’s a garage sale

when really there’s just a parked

car in a closed

garage

 

I dunno

 

I’m not sure what

justice is when we

live in a country

where a woman can be

incarcerated for not carrying

her baby all the way to

term

and

can also get raped in prison

and forced to wear handcuffs

when she gives birth

 

I dunno

 

in my dreams I see frogs wearing

capes saving

sacred bars of soap

VI.

If I could gather all the music

in my hands

cup it as I

walk through the forest

pour it into

the holy vessel

VII.

sometimes

it flashes through me

like lightning touching

down on a field

VIII.

Other times

silence

IX.

If words have

currency

I only want them

to be

love

X.

Tbilisi

as a dream

cold homemade yogurt on balconies

on mornings overlooking

the Parliament

a rape

inside a dream

inside another country

salads made of

cucumbers

tomatoes

walnut dressing

 

***

Jaclyn Alexander is a writer, artist, and teacher living in Brooklyn. Her work can be found in BOMB, Prelude, Vestal Review, Haribo, and The Rational, and her chapbook of poems was published through Finishing Line Press in 2018. You can find more of her art and writing at jaclynalexander.com.