curling like smoke
of wrought iron, smote
in the earthforge
by the heat
of its squeaking teeth
its sweating jaw
and its eyes ever setting
into place
wishbones clack
like cockcrows
down its mut
hearing from air
like prying water
from its maw
shivering molars
of water
pulled like teeth
picked like lice
from the day’s bristling scalp
itching to brushfire
fontanel swelling
& you, stitched
below the solar plexus
no such too far
only stops between
here & here
o, what a mess I’ve made
of my mind
we earn our wage
of war
and learn at last
to sleep in ourselves
attachments tear
like gum from a desk
flesh from muscle
the gristle sticking
like velcro
groaning as it goes
life rhymes silently
all the while
the vivids of difference
peaks of wave dimensionless
no depth to speak from
looking back can be
like hearing a stranger
in your mothers voice
the world lain exposed
like a like a like a
leather glove inside-outed
a fluted shinbone
for piping upon
syringed from life
for the barest inch of time
until every bodied spot
touches every other
the self unscreened
unscreening
the sugar crystal of desire
melting
on the brain’s wet tongue
full of unexpected guests
like gods
they muddy the rug
& eat the plastic fruits
I found the right time
but forgot the numbers
I forgot the numbers
but found the right time
Yoyo Comay is a poet and musician from Toronto. He released his first EP of original music Crushed under the name Sufferin Mall in 2022, and his debut poetry collection, States of Emergency, was published with Vehicule Press in 2023. His work has appeared in The Peripheral Review, Commo Mag, Touch the Donkey, Metatron Press, and Small Walker Press. He is also a co-founder of the Toronto Experimental Translation Collective.
