# #seattle

2 poems

## [AS 21](https://chromato.graphics/as21)

if you’re hearing this,  
it’s ’cause i trust you.  
there’s a lot of detail,  
high resolution scans.

i take an early flight.  
nothing good is easy.  
_what am i forgetting?_  
chocolate orange peels.

i program on the airplane  
to distract from humming  
in my eardrums; an engine  
whirring to life in my chest.

she applies the night before  
risks her body just for more.  
she knows she has to see it  
before i remember my face.

jetway’s made of glass,  
eyes have steel blades.  
_what am i forgetting?_  
54-inch red shoelace.

_“do you want to get the  
fuck out of this airport?”_  
she picks up both bags  
before i can say a word.

she borrows a tapedeck.  
i hold her knee. _is this ok?_  
the postal service can’t  
ship this in a flat rate box.

distance desires ritual  
we find a matchbook  
_what am i forgetting?_  
ashen coffee. burning.

the next thing i know  
we’re at the terminal.  
lipstick can stain more  
than cardboard cups

**time stopped in total:**  
14 hours, 28 minutes

## [triumph](https://chromato.graphics/triumph)

you outfit us in leather armor  
tie boots tight as heartstrings  
we dance and breathe as one  
enter prisms — offset blinking

INFORMATION GLADLY GIVEN  
BUT SAFETY REQUIRES AVOIDING  
UNNECESSARY CONVERSATION

underground, understand a halo  
grip my thighs below your wings  
breathe — you ask “_you ready?_”  
to leave, to ride, to fly. of course.

don’t look down & don’t let go  
become part of a red machine:  
a bell, a backpack, a balance  
gripping tightly, holding loosely

i am not afraid to ride with you  
to glide across rock and sound  
my pilot is divine, invincible even  
molded contours promise safety

PLEASE HOLD ON  
SUDDEN STOPS ARE  
SOMETIMES NECESSARY

as we swerve, we synchronize  
we’re on an island, smiling wide  
small compared to a lighthouse  
even smaller against your frame

my sister thought she could fall  
along the same route we travel  
but i know i fell for you already  
ache is just what flight feels like