Aubade (The Lake)Buried dawn broke
onto slight leaves. And geese
between a cold and hot sky:
a mountain and a sunrise.
It is five months since we separated.
I am not so different from the long hare
stretched by her shadow,
her spirit hanging.
What I would give for the dead
beat of mud shaped and now
eaten in. Coyotes rousing
in fast laps of the moon.
Take me to the lake and do no evil.
Lead me by the hair to who I love.
Taking CareI take off my binder before a massage
and dream of top surgery: not having to wait
for the masseur to ask about————, my abnormal
desire to be inside this body, once, easily
identified and therefore easy to take care of.
I am not easy to take care of. I should just
take care of myself: ask a doctor to remove
the parts that are reprehensible. Like when
they break the nose in order
to construct a better one,
I bring a picture to the hairdresser. I bring
a picture to the mirror where I cut my skin
with my eyes.
As a man, I’ve learned something of nationhood:
the shape of a brook now straddled by a dam,
or choked by it.
Leaving the HouseWhen I say I’m in love with you,
that means I’m not alone inside of it.
Together we talk to people
we love, separately, in one voice.
When my voice fills in love with you.
When I sing on the outside.
Copyright © 2022 by Yanyi. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
