Sunday, August 6, 2023 from The Moan Wilds by Caroline Rayner
Baby, I want to say resplendent. I have no idea. I want to say exalt it. I want to say turn it. According to this part of the sky. No music,
which means no dancing, which means hanging out in the air. When it starts to sting, I get chairs to unfold. I seduce what I have to seduce. I calibrate. Like a saint. Hopelessly. Fucked by Pluto. Not forever, just tonight. Down here in blue. Earth bitch, tearing it up, hips into it. Crushing it, slick with it, and delusional, without sun. I uncross, then drape, because I can, in the middle of this emergency we call a party. Baby, everything, everything. Rotting, with a vile heart. Collapsing,
into laughter, thrashing. When deeply, electrically alive, I cheat. At pool, or whatever else we decide to rise to meet. First time, the engine. Next time, the suspension. Mustang on a Saturday. Running like one. Paying for it. I owe what I owe. Earth bitch, playing by the rules. I wait like a dog. Basement light. Resurrect it. I mean the carnivorous plant I killed when I put on that song everyone hates.
Leave it.
The whole place is dark.
About the Poet
Caroline Rayner is a poet and music writer from Richmond, VA. She is the author of “THE MOAN WILDS” (Shabby Doll House, May 2023). Her poetry can be found in Annulet, b l u s h, KEITH LLC, Black Warrior Review, Peach Mag, Shabby Doll House, and elsewhere.
She earned an MFA in poetry from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she taught composition and creative writing. She also served as assistant managing editor of jubilat. Her essays, reviews, and interviews on music can be found in Tiny Mix Tapes and elsewhere.
Related Event
- Caroline Rayner, author of “THE MOAN WILDS” (Shabby Doll House, 2023), will join fellow contributors Aaron Lelito, S. Erin Batiste, Rebecca Teich, and Marisa Tornello at a launch party reading for “Invitation to Form: Epic Mix,” a hard copy anthology edited by Julianne Neely and published by the Buffalo-based literary journal Peach Mag, at Fitz Books & Waffles, 433 Ellicott St. in Buffalo on Sunday, August 6th at 3 p.m.
The Poem of the Week feature is curated by literary legacy awardee R.D. Pohl.