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
