Lauren Caldwell - Eighteen Revolutions

june in san francisco

i squatted, devoured

sour green kumquats

plucked from a slumping branch

three brothers walked into the sea

and one returned

their mussels, cleaved

washed up

scaly and intestinal

i promised sweet june

to stay

still

convenient

and fleshy

I fed on smoke and mirrors.

a suckling

sweet little animal

plucking

flies out of orbit

i sickened gently

into a rocking chair in the sun

i fell in love.

He let our tastes mingle with ash and

picked gravel from the soles of His feet He

wrote of stones

spoke of thighs and divinity

He played chess

and killed off stars with His wishing

He felt god.

then He felt schizophrenic

september stagnated

in puddle murk

mosquito larvae hatching

as a field of

fetal dandelions

bloomed beneath our

fingernails.

Edited by Jamie Chen.

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LAUREN CALDWELL is a queer, 20-year-old poet from San Francisco, California. She attends Lewis and Clark College in Portland, majoring in English and rhetoric and media studies. Lauren explores, through her work, her struggles as a young person grappling with bipolar disorder. She hopes to use writing to promote introspection and healing for all.