"intangible" by sume
Fine! Look FOB for all I care!
she said, shaking a head full of permed, copper
curls that squirmed across her shoulders
like earthworms bleaching in the sun.
My own hung uncut despite her attempts,
in shades of condensed mourning
seizing currents of air before it settled,
anchored at the roots. We hovered
on the shores of St. George Island, distorted
reflections of each other knee-deep
in a Florida sun that mirrored our insides
as they boiled out with each wave
that passed between us.
Fresh off what boat?
Unlike her, I’d flown on wings unfolded
without my consent, an adoptee
pre-wrapped, documented and stamped
with approval for import
into the American dream.
There was no mother who clutched
remnants of herself as she
squeezed between flesh wet
with the sweat of thieves on a boat
driven by wind sucked from open mouths
that still whispered of a Saigon before
Ho Chi Minh. There were no goodbyes
as I surrendered my father to a sea
that had already swallowed the soil
in my veins while I puked my hopes
into its dark water. There was no boat,
no ocean binding here to there, only an interval
of space between myself and a melting horizon
that offered no tangible place to land.
Immigrants. The word drifted past us
on pieces of seaweed, unspoken.
The surf drove sand between our toes
and over our feet planting us
where we stood and debated on whether
facial peels or aspirin masks
worked best. Pelicans dangled in the sky
before flashes of silver from the depths
cut them loose to dive beneath the surface
in search of unprotected flesh.
Man, how do you come up with those amazing pictures?
Thanks Kev,
Some, like this one, I cheated and heavily manipulated it with Photoshop. Others were just lucky shots. 😉
Mashallah …My first time in here