by Seth Jani

No more do the animals rout
in darkness. They go before us
blind and ecstatic, carrying their
primal secrets.
We lose everything with their power.
The shine of otherness is our only heart.
We cast the fishing line and pull up
old tires. It’s not funny like in the movies.
This world is unbearably sad.
My niece will never know
the true and ancient music.
The whales vanish through
doors of mist.
The ocean’s silence is not mystic.
The losses are real and incalculable.
We asphyxiate ourselves
and call it comfort.
We burn our clocks
to buy more time.
&
&

Seth Jani

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Seth Jani lives in Seattle, WA and is the founder of Seven CirclePress. Their work has appeared in The American Poetry Journal, Chiron Review, Ghost City Review, Rust+Moth and Pretty Owl Poetry, among others. Their full-length collection, Night Fable, was published by FutureCycle Press in 2018.

Artist: Dustin Shean – DLC Visuals