The Shallow Ends
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ODE TO MY PENIS

3/1/2018

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                    by Destiny O. Birdsong 

​pill crusher // needle flusher

coconut oiler of legs

& the untouched space // beneath

breasts // butcher // baker //

bathwater maker

and when ten thousand fall

at my side // & the phone

goes dry // you are //

my hitching post

of God’s // great // grace //

bottle shaker // chalice faker

everything that ever poisoned us

passed through // so too

have the cures // you raised me

from the dead // sinister digits //

if there’s // a right way //

to stroke raw honey from the lioness’s

mouth // you stumble // but find it

every time // palm // grazing

her grizzle // how the swarm

quiets // for a moment //

the pupiled areolas

dilate // their vein-

webbed fronds // oh girl // who else

rides me safely // through // Jerusalem

// unsaddled // on her simple back

or massages // my slippery feet with her

whorled hair // I’ll never

let your tunic drag //

the ground of want // again //

we’ll have each other //

and live // like Lazarus //

unraveling his spool // in the sisters’

stunned silence // death oils slipping

from his skin // savior // you track

mirrored light into // my

wilderness // a little spit //

a little mud //

at the first touch

i saw men // monstrous //

as marching trees //

then // after a second touch //
​
// just // trees //
 


​
 
 
Picture
photo by Hunter Armistead

Destiny O. Birdsong is a poet and essayist whose work has either appeared or is forthcoming in African American Review, Bettering American Poetry Volume II, The BreakBeat Poets Presents: Black Girl Magic, The Cambridge Companion to Transnational American Literature, Split This Rock’s Poem of the Week, and elsewhere. Destiny has received fellowships from Cave Canem, Callaloo, Jack Jones Literary Arts, The Ragdale Foundation, and The MacDowell Colony. Read more of her work at www.destinybirdsong.com.
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