Dear
When a big cosmic hand
Runs along the back of the Pacific
Little bits of ocean dust
Untethered
Jump into the air
Cling to the fuzz on your cashmere sweater
Cling to the hair in your nose
The light today was donated to us anonymously
Body-cold. Heart unbeatable
Spine a chewed on branch
Rita
Wearing all of my clothes To stand in the surgical light of fear
Trying to seem larger than life Larger than fear
Meant to plow the land Saw the apples go bad
Leaning heavy to rot At the feet of the world
Old Warm-toned
Dear
Poetry does not really take that much time only my whole life
Patience paper-cuts
Indecision
Roots into a cell
Of a house or a coffin
or a book
Regardless
With situational vibrancy
My heavy bones must split into a house
Or a coffin or a book
That does not belong to my name
In these walls
I eventually learn how to feel everything
Rita
There is such a thing as post-coital clarity
(I wanted to provide a scientific base for what I was about to say)
When everything becomes so clear
It is so clear to me now
Like I am sitting on the tip of the nose
(I touched the tip of your nose)
Of God. I can see everything from here
I can see that we are rain barrels really
Walking around spilling ourselves everywhere
And everything makes us forget
… But I remember!
What? (You woke up)
“I remember”
Salt mines under my skin
I didn’t feel in charge of the world
Definitely. When you touched my knee
It made a feeling like a balloon
Pierced with a cloud
Left In its place
In this case
Red
Red cloud of love. Pleasure.
You know the one. Where
Did you see it?
Did I? Smelling of sweat. At night
The shadows around our bed
Grew elaborate — different. A rhythm
was on the loose. Unbounded
Heart taped to a whole bunch of dynamite
Margarita Popova is a former editor and writer from Moscow, Russia. She currently resides in the Bay Area and works in conversational robotics, focusing specifically on the relationship between human and artificial intelligence. Her editorial work has been featured in The Guardian, The Fader, and others. Her debut poetry manuscript, Saturday, has been selected as a finalist for the 2023 Ottoline Prize.