John Liles

Contusionist


a moth takes
so many
short whiles
into the light



dazzling, dalliance, spore

divine :   “being”

in the world

 

mitochondria
use calcium
as an on-switch


(oh lucky stars)



spotlit
you
were
my
every
recovery





(Quartz)



*   *       *

                and committed  a
                    rock crystal
                  by shearing this
                historical
                              lithograph :


                            body parts paralleling              at sundown,
                                                    conifers           in rank and upright


                            against an agatized landscape

                                           the daylight
                                               rusted
                                               down



ocular accidentalists
        trying

not to slip



                                                                                                                                                                                                                        *       *    *

Opal



*


        in the body rotten mammalian
        carcass night whiled
        of its molecules

        you are honey soft,
        hang dogged,
        making embrace



*



        undergone, crystallized, you :
        lattice of laminates dizzy-getting
        the bright sides into
        a band gap, unpassable

        kiss coherence and glide
        with no discernable structure, you
        nothing like other, hold
        for a moment
        one body
        of light




Cnidarian 



granular habitats stamped:

while awaiting affections
of pollen baskets,


hillsides of lilies held
a calyx gone cold



pistiless floral receptacles
had fallen, fossilized



seemingly patient
suspension feeders
who might be starving
with nowhere else to go





Asteroidea 



opportunistic aggressor
against benthic invertebrates


astral precursor of sea stars
who postured their stomachs externally


honeycombed microcrystals
that tessellate long-term engagements,

ossicles enduring as tombstones:

corpseless aboral armor of an animal
long-ago dispossessed of its limbs





In kept company  



*
nowhere quickly and why we haven’t stayed stationary
here could be my exterior space, all possible
displacement into your company



this idea of outside and now I need when you are noise


*
polyps arrest their own animance, walk yonder


antimony : not alone and dearestness nuzzles.


be gentle and we both survive this.



*
cancers of squamous cavity coverers:


adnexal tumors undone-ing necessary appendages



there is no way to help how much of this is an accident