moonlit wandering was a welcome hobby /
a curse of witches and warlocks
and good ivy, poisonous
to the touch of an unnamed devil /
may pray the spores away, the guilt
seeping in half naked on strange men’s patios /
weirder and weirder
wilder and wilder /
burning the leaves, the meadow, the grass
growing parasite-like on tarred fences
listen to it, to the weird cries - the broken one’s /
bones a twisted artpiece
martyred and mangled and cooling with spit /
tar leeching in its eyes /
feathers askew on an unseen angel’s broken back
bent under a weight like stop
don’t go
let us be us forever
let us be buried bruised and coughing promises
let us be us forever✶
Ari Kanji (they/them) is an author, playwright, and spoken word poet based in Toronto, Canada.