Sally Wen Mao, 'Inviolacy'

[duathir]

Inviolacy
for Annika

Tonight, we shrink
for no one. Tonight, we are afraid
of nothing. Not torpedoes, not the long

bodies of submarines or tiger sharks
that circle beneath us. Not wilt, not tornados,
not the dark camps moored to erasure.

We will reel them in, shear their teeth.
Their husks stew the sea. Tonight, awaken me
from this dream of apple blossoms, we’ll follow

the kingfisher downstream, forget what we’re
confronting. It’s better this way. To mythologize:
city of endless crayon, endless sod;

boy riding wild horse in Mongolia.
Chimeras cannot hurt us
even if they were once matter, pestle

grinding mortar. Even the abattoir
feels unreal - it’s unlikely that we’ll ever
witness: creature turning

into meat. The duck hangs whole
in the restaurant window. We believe
it is whole. When we order it plump,

it is cut to pieces in the back room.
Even invincible, we envy the luxury:
a room to bleed in, break apart accordingly

by Sally Wen Mao