a study:                        mid-bloom                   half-rot,

my name has traveled so long                        to find me. 

a                                 chest    full of unfurling petals          dripping

nectar wet. waiting.     i have begun to discover want.       &

this throat                  starts defining itself into something

        else. what makes / us / want / a definition that begins with 

                                                           more? 

                        boy to blue to beyond. roadside attraction: decay / renew.

discard absent uses of me.                 for                             i am pine trees,

hibiscus wrinkles,         midnight headlight illuminations,     swollen rivers, 

scattered deferences,   aster flowers,  &             wayward

                                                             dogs       without a whistle.  

my name has rhymed with              god          for as long as i 

                                                        can          remember.

Caleb Lovelace is a queer writer & poet that lives somewhere near a river in Florida. His poetry has appeared in Horn & Ivory Zine, Déaciné Magazine, and Bombus Press. He can be found at arckhaic.com& on various social media @arckhaic.