by Edward Michael Supranowicz
The Dead Time Carousel
what bottom have i collapsed?
my face flat against the concrete
cheek licked by the cold
tongue of refrigerator water
i submit no lock pick
to unshackle this sadness
no quick fix to dredge my body
pickled year after year
in basement monotony
no magic key no escape
hatch no secret latch
to puff the wrinkled bags
of my lungs with air
i’m here squished
by gravity cheek tongued
by a cold lick of refrigerator water
i submit
throat gargling the long opera
of my blood
each note dragged
like a corpse
in an ambulance the sirens
blue red silent
my body bloated
to a whisper
lungs begging for scissors
to cut
the endless swing between
living & necromancy
if one moment can jump
into the next
then one moment can jump back
into sadness
that sags
& jiggles
& fits like an overgrown skin
if there’s a multiverse
i’m sure there’s a variant of me
who doesn’t mind lying
flat against concrete
a variant who reaches past
the refrigerator’s kickplate
spider husks the trails
of hair that pool
like sweat in a belly button
stares
parallel to the blade of a centipede
eye level with the bottom
when he digs for another
who dares to dream
elastic
stomach full of monarchs
& milkweed
his blood an omen
gutted laughter
the evisceration of a new day
Michael Russell (he/they) is the queer, mad mother monster behind two chapbooks, gallery of heartache (forthcoming from 845 Press) and Grindr Opera (Frog Hollow Press). They are the coauthor of chapbook Split Jawed with Elena Bentley (forthcoming from Collusion Books). He has a heart full of rainbows, unicorns and chocolate chip pancakes and they want the best for you. Insta: @michael.russell.poet
Edward Michael Supranowicz is the grandson of Irish and Lithuanian/Russian/Ukrainian immigrants. He grew up on a small farm in Appalachia. He has a grad background in painting and printmaking. Some of his artwork has recently or will soon appear in Fish Food, Streetlight, Another Chicago Magazine, The Door Is A Jar, The Phoenix, and The Harvard Advocate. Edward is also a published poet who has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize multiple times.