Prosepoem (Path To Whole)

By Laurence Lilvik

We’re not asking you to understand. Not begging you to be the goldfish. We’re not a willow in a field, or the groundwater it signifies. I’m slipping into a melted ice floe. I’m not grateful for this, we’re not asking you to understand. There are bells hanging from boughs that disappear in the warmth of June’s length. I’m not always with them, we are always together. There’s a plasma screen in the magma. There’s a lava lamp in the quasars. I’m not asking you questions you wouldn’t ask yourself. We haven’t accepted the fleas but we cannot deny their bites. We’d cry if you sold us a wax lemon. I’m sorry you’ve undertaken those tasks without us. We were still making our decisions. We bleed less now. I plow into the id after you’ve cut my brakes. I’m asking for arm’s length plus a little bit more, another hand, maybe. It’s always such a joy. I’m not so sure you really like it sullied or just feel more comfortable among those who do. It’s a truth jewel in the roughage that clears a path to gleaming wholes.

Laurence Lillvik (Portland, Oregon) is the editor of “Skullcrushing Hummingbird,” an international arts and literature zine. His chapbook “Criterion”  (Greying Ghost Press) was a featured small press title at Powell’s Books. A new full length collection of poetry called "Catharsis Is Never Fully Shorn From Glee" is forthcoming from Trident Press. His poetry has also appeared in several literary journals, audio collections, and DIY poetry chapbooks. Musically, Lillvik  is the founder of KalloHumina, an umbrella project for solo work and live improvised collaborations. https://larstonovich.substack.com/