Two poems

warm, somewhere less:

sat looking out
and the window swam in frost.

jonah said

we would travel to sunflowers

and maybe outrun this
whimpering sidewalk
of snow.

the buzzards, he said
would be happy to
have us.

later,
i would recount this as
the buzzards would have no voice.

so what does it matter?

but i liked my forest
of bitter and bitten
pines.

and i liked waiting for the crawling
innards of sunflowers; and they

looked better through my

breath and the window.

where i was found:

the water unwhittled by the flanks
of the boat

in the center; sweat & flitting eyes
& it was a good song

but slumped by the cart flowering yellow
rice and peonies

was a more interesting beat —
breath & there were shining, swollen glasses

& they were toasting to
literature and dark skies

empty textbooks &
in my flushed, curious stumble of
words

i wasted

see, i only ever knew infatuation softly

iridescence ———————

& i craved

Art by Pride Nyasha

Pride Nyasha Mapfumo (1993) is a Zimbabwean male artist and expressionist painter whose work seeks to explore the emotions that arise from the dynamic nature of love and relationships. He received his degree in Applied Science (Architectural Studies) from Curtin University in 2016. A couple of months later, he launched himself as a freelance artist and designer. Instagram: @pride_nyasha