Cotton Candy Raccoon
all the working instruments inside me never asleep
I invent things when I cannot see them
I fill in space when it should be blank
I switch codes
and so / I ride the wave of your face
how long can I hold that memory loop
when it fades there is a grief
what I put in water dissolves in my hand
the gif
in which
the raccoon
puts cotton candy in water
to wash it
& it
disappears
and I am left with me again
the invisible feelings
my voice is rusty dust off
whatever was settled is rising
this occasion has me waking
__________________________________________________________________________
and carrier
and do we embody the obscure
unused meanings of our names
am I destined to give
gifts of chopped wood and carried water
I learn how to hear
into the hole of my body
the mummified lovers
of Pompeii were found to be two men
so the history books change the caption
Two Friends Embrace (No Homo)
the homo is erased
a corralling or policing of wrists
men are not supposed to give
to surpass certain limits
you don’t want coal
but you don’t want to own
the segmented geode inside
be broken it’s pretty
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Nathan Wade Carter is a queer, non-binary, grey-a poet, musician, and artist living in Portland, Oregon. His chapbook is ROYGBIV (Ursus Americanus Press 2017). His poetry can be found in Hobart, Fugue, Gramma Poetry, Poor Claudia, The Fem, & others. He is editor and founder of SUSAN / The Journal. He writes and performs songs under the name Purrbot. Find him online at nathanwadecarter.com.