by Edward Lee
An Expanse of Dirt Outside Fernley, NV
I see you,
lizard. Impressive push-ups.
How do you keep your skin
whiskey smooth?
You must tan on sweating rocks,
rest your head on their concavities.
I wonder where the desert birthed you,
where you found your scales.
What were your absentee
mother and father like?
I spot trailblazing DNA
through your camouflage veneer.
If you bite my finger,
I’ll be proud of your instinct,
your reptilian survivalism.
All I ask is you remember my blood
on your tongue, let the hemoglobin
settle in your stomach.
The Spelunker’s Adventure Book
Verso
Together we rappel cavern walls,
only backpacks and headgear
to claim, careful to avoid
guano-covered stalagmites
and whip scorpion nests.
We share the gleam of
Courage! in our eyes
as we see little but feel
dirt in our boots, dust
in our lungs. We’re bats
in the fray, echoes carving paths
into our skin. We may die
2,000 feet under, but our blood
will fertilize the earth.
Recto
My blood will fertilize
the earth. I’ll die 2,000 feet
under. You snap my cord,
kick me onto the tallest
stalagmite. My back breaks
as you etch laughter
into my synapses—this cavern
is yours. Whip scorpions
surround my failing body:
eviscerated bowels, sawtooth
vertebrae. My organs weep.
I want to curse your shadow,
but my throat vomits dust,
lips speak in forgotten dirt.
Dani Putney is a queer, non-binary, mixed-race Filipinx poet originally from Sacramento, California. Their poetry most recently appears in Dovecote Magazine, The Fourth River, LandLocked, and Sons and Daughters, among other publications. They reside amid cowboys in the Nevada desert.
Edward Lee is an artist and writer from Ireland. His paintings and photography have been exhibited widely, while his poetry, short stories, non-fiction have been published in magazines in Ireland, England and America, including The Stinging Fly, Skylight 47, Acumen and Smiths Knoll. He is currently working on two photography collections: ‘Lying Down With The Dead’ and ‘There Is A Beauty In Broken Things’. He also makes musical noise under the names Ayahuasca Collective, Lewis Milne, Orson Carroll, Blinded Architect, Lego Figures Fighting, and Pale Blond Boy. His blog/website can be found at https://edwardmlee.wordpress.com