nina jane drystek : Three poems

 

 

for another heart beat

winds whip through these hills
gather in the valley 

moonbow
semi-transparent white

a glass from the cupboard
what was it you wanted

dust whorl of a broom
the system brings what it does

nothing is stationary
in this universe everything sways

shifts swift hunger bunching
unfold the tulle of my crinoline

needles crunch grass
don me

dance me closely

 

 

 

midsummer

you take water into yourself          you
take it out          transform it          taste it           tackle
it to your cells          grapple me           roll us
in the dust          soak          mud puddle          i
never meant to make you          did you
make me          our cells unfolding
a spring          a fan          endless rolling sprawl
stunned          stung by sunlight

i am drained          i am dripping          melting slowly

shock me solid          lighten me
lightning          lessen this lounging
lust me inside the folds of your ear
trap me among crystals          sound
beats setting body off balance          you destabilize        
spin          i would gladly be here again          soberly sullied

what softness makes me          i unmake          picking          panicking

unripe apples fall        bruise          begin to rot
before my eyes          a rat makes off with one         lying here
on the oblong stones          i am delectable        
reaching my hand lustily          do you feel it          crawl
my hands along your shadow          dripping between          cracks for sand

 

one / five twenty five
 

smooth white buds pop from fuzz
curl blooming magnolia

red cardinal arc flutters a trill
melody calling back to itself

for the first time i recognise a song
from branch to fence squirrels chatter

virus versus iris
today confirms she is within me

i cannot smell spring but know she is here
the sky is beyond and i am within it

count on my fingers when
did my breath catch in her presence

back and forth along this path
try to trace health lines

when panic became a warning sign
flutter in my chest

subtle usual, subtle unusual
my nose knows creeping is no illusion

who hears, who knows i am here
crying behind the hydro pole

days ago i ran and ran and ran
the world was opening

today nothing feels more beautiful
than looking up, harbouring

i am keeping her under wraps
no strength to make an escape

dot on a line statistic
i am not the first or last vessel

suckle hurl seethe i will her
negotiation needs negation

change is a new category
green husks fall from above for living

 

 

 

nina jane drystek is a poet, writer and performer based in Ottawa, unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory. she is author of knewro suite (Simulacrum Press, 2019) and her poems have appeared in several print and online publications, as well as in self-published chapbooks and broadsides. her original sound poetry scores can be heard on bandcamp. she is one of the co-founders of Riverbed ReadingSeries, was shortlisted for the 2020 Bronwen Wallace Award for Poetry, writes collaborative poetry with VII, and performs sound poetry with the ensemble quatuour gualuour. if you have ever lived in the same city as her you have likely seen her riding a red or blue bicycle. you can find her @textcurious