Transcript:

this hair

ropes, 

sings,

waves,

plays with the wind

and laughs

it is happy today,

i can feel it smiling, down the mountain range 

of my spine, all hills or         a tree 

full of knots

 

my eyes are honey and sage and copper and 

when they storm, 

they become the exact shade of the earth

the forest 

underneath a bruised sky and 

when they water––they glow like 

sunshine through meadows,

the kind with bees and butterflies

suck on honey, feed on nectar, 

drink in

this gaze

 

there are           scars 

from lightning strikes

across my hips and my thighs and

these marks remind me 

of canyons sometimes; millions of rivers 

snaking across where the dirt opened itself 

for a moment of perfect intimacy, an embrace 

 with the gods and goddesses of nature––

  my love

may i have this dance

 

when i see foothills, they

are my stomach, gentle and solid,

warm, i see

pennsylvania in their curves, colorado 

in their majestic infinity, california

in their occasional rigid nature, and most of all,

The alps in their striking

beauty,

and like any good mountain range, i need 

another to fully appreciate them,

so love these rolls like an old friend, 

love these rolls like i do

 

rivers in my scars, 

so natural, so lovely

meander across time, show my history,

paint yourself next to the lightning 

these scars are almost 

like tree trunks, i see them 

i do, i see them grow leaves and over the inscriptions 

of temporary pain, you cannot         mark this 

as your own,

i will grow from it

but despite all the land-like 

monuments 

in my features, there are stars in 

every single one 

of my birthmarks, my pockmarks, my freckles, my so-called imperfections

darling, darling, i swear you have never 

looked more beautiful than when you did 

with constellations spider-webbing your skin

stay interstellar, i beg you

 

and skin, oh skin, forgive me for

all those nights, punishment 

and hatred, i only hope you will

allow me to friendship you, i only hope you will 

laugh like reeds in the

 breeze with me, i promise 

  to caress you often

and lovingly: no pinches, you are not 

cheeks or ears of a lover; you are not lips 

between my teeth; you are not glen or where 

there is too much 

  to breathe

air 

 

this body is interstellar, 

body, forgive me

i am astronaut

body, forgive me

this body is interstellar

body, 

     forgive me

i am astronaut

body, forgive me

 

Author Bio:

Jack Snyder is a philosopher/poet finishing up his second year at Susquehanna. He spends his days writing and reading, frequently at the same time. On his off-time, he spends days in the wilderness, hiking and taking in the beauty of the natural world.

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