Double Wythe

ix

Double wythe brick walls collar joints laid in mortar composite masonries in running bonds metal

coping held together with membrane flashing poked in weeps

The dried shale encloses us in greyness kidnapped from meadows hauled against a life of basalt

so the back of a ribcage caves in

Blood mixes in with sweat on cold hands and fades/blends and you cannot see it anymore except

for the exposed bits of flesh and tendon on your fingertips risking necrosis everytime you press an elevator button

Dust settles on a foundation spot and clots into a stain to fester for months growing with powder and lip gloss

and the crack on the side of its hard plastic spreads down

She tips the ship-in-a-bottle upwards and sheets down firewater into its mouth to cause a shipwreck

drowning sailors then fixing her mascara in the reflection

No more ruffles or unshaven legs here only an upright casket cushioned with white silk

hammered shut by a flare in a red flannel crying for an IV line

Eventually he (who sat on the invisible throne above them) will appear clothed in a cloud with columns of fire for legs

and the crystalline sparkle of a jasper stone in his eyes

the fiery redness of sardius lining his fingertips

not a black painted nail in sight

and he will crumble the multi wythe wall you built yourself and

let the moon stars lightning fireflies

asteroids etcetera

flow in.

---

Cover Photo by Chaitanya K. Edited by Madison Case.