by David Ly
asphyxiation is my angel’s talons around a harp crushing a melody
luring me closer and closer to an oily light
i’m compelled to wrap round my body when i still want to escape
an entire night is scratched away i am as soft as i thought
asian fairy-bluebird chicks still need to dart from my mouth
smash into the two-way mirror that i see my face in
i don’t want to trip into this magic again something i think about
while body-aches keep me awake i’ve been having trouble
staying in the current year the old ones keep expanding and popping
in the marrow of my bones i want self-forgiveness
in its single-celled form i want the dimming flame in my chest
to combust into a phoenix-shaped love
that can save me from clipping wings from my own breath
so that i may finally move uninhibited and proud
with all of the magnificent furies i know i am capable of
DAVID LY is a writer, accidental poet, and allergic to bananas. His chapbook, Stubble Burn, is published with Anstruther Press (2018). David’s debut full-length collection comes out in 2020 with Anstruther Books, an imprint of Palimpsest Press. Twitter @dlylyly.
Fury can be found in Augur Magazine Issue 1.2.
