Destruction of the ProtoUniverse on the Morning Commute
Going over the Williamsburg Bridge,
someone smokes crack on the train.
Enduring the acrid smell and the morning sun,
I consider the metal in the subway pole
and the metal in my own blood
and the cosmic explosion
that sent those metals here.
I worry that I started
this destruction. Or the destruction
of something. I learn boundaries
by trying to break them. Is that what I did
with you? Running in the cold dry air
of this season brings the strong taste
of copper into my mouth. I pull coins
from under my tongue and
behind my eyes. When they stop coming,
I give you my teeth. Oh see,
I can’t be trusted with them.
someone smokes crack on the train.
Enduring the acrid smell and the morning sun,
I consider the metal in the subway pole
and the metal in my own blood
and the cosmic explosion
that sent those metals here.
I worry that I started
this destruction. Or the destruction
of something. I learn boundaries
by trying to break them. Is that what I did
with you? Running in the cold dry air
of this season brings the strong taste
of copper into my mouth. I pull coins
from under my tongue and
behind my eyes. When they stop coming,
I give you my teeth. Oh see,
I can’t be trusted with them.
Sept / Oct 2023
Emily Hockaday's second collection In a Body will be out with Harbor Editions in October 2023. Her first collection, Naming the Ghost, a series of poems about parenthood, grief, and chronic illness, came out with Cornerstone Press in 2022. Emily is the author of five chapbooks, most recently Beach Vocabulary from Red Bird Chaps. She tweets @E_Hockaday.
Art: Cam Pietralunga. Watching Is All on TV. Acrylic on canvas.