James Merenda
And the Kindling Too
She is my mother, still.
I am too. Also, a sycamore,
bark peeling, boughs limp.
The fire is her idea, though
I did not stop her, or it,
unlike my brother,
who was also me, protesting
in the clamp of my arms and assurances,
prevented from the rescue.
In this version she is already
dying, and it’s mercy,
a request. Her hand opens
in offering, and closes mine
around the wrath grip
on the box, the matchstick.
We are not in a forest
until after, just the trees
and my brother wrenching his body
at mine for the smothering earth.
James Merenda is a queer, nonbinary poet & organizer who resides in Somerville, Massachusetts. They were recently accepted into a week-long intensive workshop by Winter Tangerine, and their work has previously appeared in PANK Magazine, and as a contributor in Songwriting Without Boundaries. They are currently completing their first full-length manuscript.
Return to March 2019 Edition
She is my mother, still.
I am too. Also, a sycamore,
bark peeling, boughs limp.
The fire is her idea, though
I did not stop her, or it,
unlike my brother,
who was also me, protesting
in the clamp of my arms and assurances,
prevented from the rescue.
In this version she is already
dying, and it’s mercy,
a request. Her hand opens
in offering, and closes mine
around the wrath grip
on the box, the matchstick.
We are not in a forest
until after, just the trees
and my brother wrenching his body
at mine for the smothering earth.
James Merenda is a queer, nonbinary poet & organizer who resides in Somerville, Massachusetts. They were recently accepted into a week-long intensive workshop by Winter Tangerine, and their work has previously appeared in PANK Magazine, and as a contributor in Songwriting Without Boundaries. They are currently completing their first full-length manuscript.
Return to March 2019 Edition