grace (ge) gilbert
grace (ge) gilbert's recent micro, poetics, & lyric essays can/will be found in the Adroit Journal, Hobart, Ninth Letter, Pithead Chapel, the Offing, the minnesota review, Gargoyle, DIALOGIST, the Penn Review, Maudlin House, and others. Her digital micro-chap, no sharp things, can be found in NAILED. She is an MFA candidate at the University of Pittsburgh, where she consumes unholy amounts of cheese and dumplings. Peruse her work on her website- gracegegilbert.com.
SCROLL FOR THE BEGINNING or This Week
i walk
thru my day not
In a dream but
in the congealed headache
of having dreamt
my mind trying
to tease u out
in the latent way
these taffy pulls
of bonafide
Moonlight
which u say
during our walk
is so different
than the Light
in movies
i pass a tree now
with a sign
that reads
NOT AN ASHTRAY
& i wrap
my silly arms
around this
repressed plea
which connects us
I guess it’s time
to admit
The Yearning
this weird
model home
Portico
i’ve found myself frequenting
so pastel So
superlative
in my
desire
it is here
i realize
i am a dull feral
protagonist
bc when i finally get
What i want
i fear it
i am Meaning
something
to somebody
now
i am
so full
of slow, Slow beats
along
a sidewalk
where this pigeon
is so freshly
Dead
her pose resembles
an agency
headshot
O! this life
we Live
even in scenes
without
much directive
we talk endlessly
about god
like we killed Him
i told u
on someone’s
private property
what my poems
have been telling me
for almost a yr
that i am Bad
with love
i mean
this particular
Case
has diseased me
i am a bad
Woman
bc i’d follow u
anywhere
& with
a foolish precision
i am So tired
of sun now
it is so At Hand
even
in the grocery store
line outside with all
the people
where i compliment a man’s hat
to feel less disembodied
in our collective
production
we move damp &
in unison
down a block
our red shopping baskets
some strange
a cappella
i Hate how sheepish
i feel now
under
this ubiquity
this thin swath
of fabric
@ home i will remove myself
like a coat
& place
grocery store mums
in a Jar one
at a time and think
of you think
of yr hands
tenting mine
in a gray hoodie
think of saying
you are so Important
to me
under the pretty light
Pollution
of our crumbling exterior
World
in the shower later
i count the bristled perpetual
hairs
that grow
like wheat
on my nipples
to remind myself
that i am Real
with Real verdant
ugliness
i want this to erase
the image you cited
of my dress
of the cigarette
in my mouth
in that bar
we can no longer
frequent
I guess what I’m saying
is that this is so uncluttered
& pure
it pinches me
to make sure
it’s not dreaming
i am putting on
yr green sweater
now
aware of Stakes
in that they are spoken of
so often
in literature
& ignored
anyway and for lesser
reasons
i amble through the Rubble
of a news feed
& feel guilt
that i want to keep
this one Lens
zoomed in
w/o interference
from
the Collective
@ this point
we must
b Docents
of our own
minute artifacts
b full of big Joy
in our small
black box
theater
that we probably
snuck into
after dark
O love o fearful
exhilarant trajectory
u are
the genuine
article
aren’t you
O ruminant o body prone
Can we maintain
against the grass
this shape
of thinking
can we continue mouthing
This is so
lovely
while something burns
entirely &
Somewhere else