Illustrated Poem for LUNA ARCANA Magazine

A new publication for this old Californian Desert.  

Photo by Editor-in-Chief Rohini Walker

Photo by Editor-in-Chief Rohini Walker

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STILL

Naked skin across the dunes and all you can see are the snakes waiting, your eyes wide open still cannot reach that far behind the rocks. 

Prickle heat crawling up your legs. 

Cannot move

Will not move

The straw hats have long ago shredded your thoughts, still attached. 

Lay there imagining waters so blue and shiny, to drown the crickets. But they get louder and the magic refuses to happen. 

'Where to?'  I hear

'Stand still... Take me where I can stand still".  

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9 year old Bon

Once upon a time, a 9 year old Bon was bullied into a two week coma. Afterwards, while my facial bones healed, I painted to kill the hours. My mom stopped me from finishing the black layers* on these because I was going to mess up the hospital bed and they ended up in the trash can unfinished. 

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Little I knew my cousin sneaked the little paintings out of there (then forgot all about them). Skip forward 30 years to a month ago. They were clearing up space in the attic, came across them and my uncle thought it would be a great idea to mail these to me to commemorate 30 years since my face crash. 

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They do smell weird and they are making me cringe a little, but thank you crazy diamonds family of mine, you saved me then and you save me now. Also, thank you 9 year old Bon for waking up, what a ride has been so far, you little hard nut. 

 

(*I have now filled in the block black layers as originally intended)

To Sing Like Chavela Cries

There's no doubt in my bones that Georgia O'Keefee, Chavela Vargas and my grandma hang out in some kitchen cooking with roses and singing and dancing and painting each others' bodies, half drunken and howling at the dark. I know because when the Moon is fat, she howls back. 

Sweet dreams this morning with the three of them talking softly over each other and laughing like hyenas.  

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