Brijit Reed

HAINT BLUE follow me, the emissary crow of the woods. I unfurl my wings and take flight, winging through shadowed trees and leaves dappled in light. a distant calliope plays faintly a misplaced song quaintly, but near and dear to hear. it wheezes and chimes through centuries of time, and he hums along, remembers words wrong, and laughs, to the delight of our ancestors. we’ll soar over hollers and undulating hills. upon those bluegrass backs are platted plans of secret whiskeys distilled and patchworked burley tobacco— the foundations and vertebrae…read more

HUM in these garments are the remnants of meaning and memories, adjacent to my flesh, and to my bones. embroidered within my heart, this matrix is mine. it records the shine of each pearl I’ve cast away. days devoted to earth and sky, summoning spirits with sweetgrass-scented prayers, in escort of the tranquil snap of sparks and the smoky, perfumed hope that unites us with the clouds and drinks from the sun. elixir of the gods pours from the stars and nourishes the Earth in arcing colors of refracted light,…read more

see my little boat?see how it floatsupon the wavesand the mirrors?there is the whirlpoolthat tugs my wee craftthrough the remoteand capricious sea.i can predict its next phasethrough entropy and the evolutionit accompanies.hey.look at me.i’m barely 3leagues away from youon the isle of smiles,but there are too many knotsto untangle before setting out to seeyou.see my boat launch into the clouds, Sea?i’ve never been more proudto stand at the helmas i’m learning to fly.not to underwhelmthe average participant,but closing your eyes in reposeis a sufficient instrumentof propulsion for a pilot like…read more

  dog star laughs in the sky, howling through the days of summer and the winters of night.   sirius guides isis through the stars on a leash of light, feeding love to the hounds of hell and felling them upon the altar of peace and truth   and the wakened osiris  stirs alternations of permutations,  transmutations and alterations of toxin to treasure,  in an eternity of evolution dogged with plight.  

  still me, distill me. align me, refine me. finer elements inclined to the essence Divine.   comtemplosition of the juxtaposition— contempletation of the juxtaposation of the angels’ share and mine. I don’t care— it’s their spirit to drink, to claim, and to ‘shine.   solar flare, bright glare. the tense past is past time– now it’s sublime all of the time.

GREAT i called her Great because my two grandmothers were already Grand and she was the Great One. given to a wealthy woman at 9-years-old, she was provided with a new identity and a new life. Great was re-named and re-souled long before I was born. at 22, she married a Minnesota Irishman and they created my grandmother, Catherine, who had the face of a 1940’s pin-up doll and the 13 marriage proposals to prove it. one day when i am grown, i will receive a letter that she wrote…read more

ROOTED i cannot see your feetbeneath the table, so I do not knowif they’ve taken rootin the soil, casting branches like inverted treesdeep into the earth. if they have, i know that you are nourishedby the light that kisses your face, the rain that washes you clean, and the clouds that provide the shadethat cools your skinas they sail across the sky. if they have, i know that you are the grass that softly waves helloto the poppies and sunflowers that grow in the meadowsin ribbons of redand banners of…read more

FIGURE EIGHTS in a culture of vultures, it takes a departure to restore vitality to Nature.   no more rent. this spirit’s spent enough time and sense as a hostage to fear and discontent.   a new octave prepares for adoption by both the brave and the knave.   a telescope looking into space seeks paradigms to replace the loss of peace and hope.   a microscope looking at the human race, finds both shadowed selves and luminous face in the mirror.   a fractal of infinite reflections mends Itself…read more

A MURDER OF PLATHS a murder of plaths, reclining under a glass bell jar. a coven of ovens, filled with the hearts and minds of the sick and the blind. all breath anguished, soon to be vanquished, surreptitiously extinguished, under the silent dome, cold and alone. the losses colossal, unbearably awful and obscene. with spirits ravenous, they rise like Lazarus, hoping to wash their hearts clean. in penitent zeal, he rushes to steal kisses from their tulips and drinks of their bitter wine. the same flavor fizzes upon my own…read more

ECLIPSE I never thought you were an alien. your star-kissed eyes— your light blazing a whole through the sky in an arc filled with two qualities— love and hate— positive negativity— well, I’m not sure, but hate ain’t the stream that bears the cross of peace and compassion. love is    infinite strings          of heartlight rippling into eternal creation. a universe in a grain of sand, electrons in the cosmos, revolving, evolving holograms. these are the airstrips for your starships, filaments bright. the go-go was right— heaven is a…read more