january 2021

                         (i)

...although occasionally a few vowels

a few consonants do leak out

the abyss fights on in unwavering silence

punching the darkness

for what use is a larynx out here

in this ultraviolet mist

in this immensity that burns

at the back of the throat

what, for that matter, is the use of any vocative sound

if it merely foreshadows oblivion

if its descriptions fail

its nouns turn to pulp

and its adjectives fall apart on the tongue

this language of the vanquished

leaking out

relishing the predator’s mouth

this ultraviolet self

burning in the mist

this larynx surrounded by flames

by no ordinary transcendence...