errata (after Baudelaire)

Tay Arrow
Tay Arrow
Sep 5, 2018 · 2 min read

for wine, read:
the moment i let go of the rope.
read: the swarm from the hive
& the bristle of the boar who runs.
read: the life of my throat
in the whorl of your fingerprint
or the sound of the storm;
of the oncoming flood of snow;
of the crash & clatter,
or the trickle left after the splatter.
read: all will be ignited.

for poetry, read:
these indecipherable photographs
which at first appeared as winter scenes
but upon consideration
resolve into sunflowers; read:
a cardinal disguised as a mulberry
whispering the name of your son.
read. but re-read. run your fingers
over his shirt — this too is reading.
you have felt what he felt.
when you feel it again tomorrow
it will be different
& so will you
& so will he.
soon magpies will try to collect you,
soon shrikes will try to pierce you.
re-read it again. it is now
the same.

for virtue, read:
it is not the wall, but the prediction
that the wall will crack
given the right kind of earthquake.
nor is it the car, but the foreknowledge
of the crash, of the escalating probability.
the grass will bolt or burn or both. sugar maples
are deciduous. the boat can
rot on land or someday sink. life
is either wasted or destroyed by glory. you can
& may chew off your own limb
in order to live a little longer.
you can & may betray yourself.
the mirror is the worst liar of them all.
you will have to find your own way.
even now, the clouds are still laughing
about what you’ve done.
your secrets are public, so live like an angel.
your secrets are secrets, so live.
there are no secrets.
none of this is true & all of it.
the stars sing your name in fairy tales.
you’ve stopped believing in fairy tales.
you go to the doctor & he opens you with a knife.
just like that, he discovers
a weathered birdhouse inside you
filled with beating wings.

now choose.

Tay Arrow

Written by

Tay Arrow

Sudbury education advocate, writer, photographer, painter, mountaineer, parent. They/them. https://ko-fi.com/tayarrow