white phosphorus
white phosphorus soft and flammable
shoulder of purity shoulder of privilege
the Greeks say “bringer of light” but that’s a definition I
question as a source for colonialist thought
whiteness always bringing the light like we’re saving Christmas and goodwill
we shoulder our own damage
and watch it destroy whole populations
this myth of white goodness as pervasive
as a white knight black sheep
this lie as evasive as smoke
Ignite this veil of radiation this bestiary
of illuminations whiteness
should not be a weapon
I am phosphorus an obscuring agent
elemental vapor
a cloud wisp of chaos i am toxic
maelstrom of pretend
all we are smoke
militarized ammunition
nature weaponized for combat
when i feel skin
i burn through it
my whiteness pervading all your cells
dominant, absorptive
smiling
like a sinister god
rose quartz
Aureole threshold
is totem
Three smooth vitreous points
Fibrous & generally stable in ultraviolet light
One is found or one finds oneself
Irradiation forms dusky hues
Rock crystal asterism
My terminal bud
In each hardness a prism or vein
A loathsome pustule
A bubblegum center
A dichroic future of bilateral symmetries
Our stars pulsing under the stone
