For the You in These Poems

J. David

First published in Salt Hill 42 (2019).

You massacre of stars, small and holy thing—
let the boy walk into the lion’s mouth
and let there be no ruin. Let it lead
halfway home, so we can find the rest
ourselves. All good stories, I’m told,
mean something. In this one is the rain
who discovers the secret of want
and a boy standing among the swans.
Let him wonder if there is honey
in heaven. Let him wonder if all good things
really do end, if in every ending
we are saved until a final ending. I know
you have stood beside him in the freedom
of ourselves, in what absence stems from
and each thing to occupy its boundary.

J. David is a Ukrainian-American poet. Their debut chapbook Hibernation Highway was released in 2020 from Madhouse Press. They serve as Editor-in-Chief for Flypaper Magazine. Most recently their poems have been placed in Cosmonauts Avenue, Anomaly, and Flapperhouse.