PRIMORDIAL
Layla Elqutami
In desperation, a schoolboy plucks the wallet from a vendor’s pocket—
men lower their heads in prayer beyond the wall—
jacaranda branches rain purple—
where floats the mind of the librarian, endlessly sorting?—
a seed is digested through the intestines of a starling—
paint chips into the copper cup of the beggar, empty—
racehorses at full attention the moment the gun is shot—
past lovers drive their cars through desert decay—
blood spreading in sheets into street gutters—
films of fat solids in the heated goatsmilk are cracked with a spoon—
when the spell is broken, the alchemist blinks his eyes—
a lie discovered takes a grandmother by surprise—
two girls weave dandelion stems atop the tower—
a cave becomes home for a wounded hunter—
woman guesses at meaning through garden pebble distribution—
the deer shatters through a lightflashed windshield—
an orange tree hangs down over the southern highway—
no one will be salvaged—
you ask where we are headed—
pocketing the fruit peel—
men lower their heads in prayer beyond the wall—
jacaranda branches rain purple—
where floats the mind of the librarian, endlessly sorting?—
a seed is digested through the intestines of a starling—
paint chips into the copper cup of the beggar, empty—
racehorses at full attention the moment the gun is shot—
past lovers drive their cars through desert decay—
blood spreading in sheets into street gutters—
films of fat solids in the heated goatsmilk are cracked with a spoon—
when the spell is broken, the alchemist blinks his eyes—
a lie discovered takes a grandmother by surprise—
two girls weave dandelion stems atop the tower—
a cave becomes home for a wounded hunter—
woman guesses at meaning through garden pebble distribution—
the deer shatters through a lightflashed windshield—
an orange tree hangs down over the southern highway—
no one will be salvaged—
you ask where we are headed—
pocketing the fruit peel—
Layla Elqutami (Pomona '22) is a poet working in the realm of dreams and specters, trying to figure out the subconscious impulses of reality.
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