THE PORTALS OF TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
by Sage David Clemmons
1.
and little brother calling
every night from different phones
he knows the floor’s not lava
but it’s hot and it hurts and
something’s wrong
when he goes outside.
still, the tip of my tongue
over and over, worries
red in the space where
it used to be. and all
the desert, the coming back,
all the doing what we could.
and another miracle, and
speaking code at night, all
arms and elbows and knees
again. all the scarcely real
in the bath and glowing,
all the darkroom light.
2.
i have no help for unbelief
not even quiet
but lord, how i believed
i would always double check.
i’d never risk a canceled prayer
with even numbers, never forfeit
wishes just to breathe in tunnels.
i would never leave my watch
with my shoes on the shore.
and the aching bright now
wading in past the middle,
all our clothes held high
and a thousand miles away
little brother calling please i need you
bring the strongest magnets you have
3.
let’s lock arms, here’s all
my jars of pennies,
all my teeth if you think
it can help:
may all your consequences be happy ones
may we always get there in time.
Sage David Clemmons is an artist and community health worker from Los Angeles. Further dispatches can occasionally be found at dearly-collected.tumblr.com
