The Couple
after The Couple by Louise Bourgeois and Cosmic Latte by Spencer Finch
I.
We embrace as snakes
eating the veins
on the sides of our necks
slurping venom
we didn’t know we had
until our arms grew long enough
to reach inside our mouths
pulling out each diabolical word
from our guts,
our feet never touched
the ground.
We hung ourselves from an image of beauty
we would never reach.
Together as snakes with venom
destined to slither on our bellies
we did what we knew how,
until one of us ripped free.
II.
When I lay beneath the river of heavens,
My brain speaks: “I’ve been here once.”
When I reached the river of the sky,
I found your hair caught against a rock.
When I lay beneath the river of heavens,
I thank Allah, Ya Rabi.
When I reached the river of the sky,
Your palm still clung to mine.
When I lay beneath the river of heavens,
I gasp, awakened.
When I reached the river of the sky,
Your heart no longer covered mine.
Nathalie E. Amazan, 2022
