Dare Williams
Settling Into My Wreckage Waves Crashing Behind Me
I want my despair
to be perfect
but you’ve come
into the center of the floor
lights on your face.
I’m watching the jackets
of mine and a former lover.
I’m watching you dance
as if you know your body
and how it can move in public,
your muted smile.
The song that’s playing
is not good, but you are good
and I am tonight’s bruise
purpling in the corner.
The overwrought décor
of this place is camp; my life
a swirl of comets
threatening to dissolve me.
I want to spill into yours
delicately then stay
there swimming.
It’s better that you don’t
know we’re tip toeing
to the grave
echoes of joy
flaming behind
us.
to be perfect
but you’ve come
into the center of the floor
lights on your face.
I’m watching the jackets
of mine and a former lover.
I’m watching you dance
as if you know your body
and how it can move in public,
your muted smile.
The song that’s playing
is not good, but you are good
and I am tonight’s bruise
purpling in the corner.
The overwrought décor
of this place is camp; my life
a swirl of comets
threatening to dissolve me.
I want to spill into yours
delicately then stay
there swimming.
It’s better that you don’t
know we’re tip toeing
to the grave
echoes of joy
flaming behind
us.
Biography
|
Dare Williams (he/they) is a Queer HIV-positive poet and literary worker rooted in Southern California. A 2019 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow, he has received support/fellowships for his work from John Ashbury Home School, The Frost Place, Brooklyn Poets, Breadloaf, and Tin House. Dare’s poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best American Poets. His work has been featured in Foglifter, The Shore, Exposition Review, West Trade Review, and elsewhere. Follow him at Darewilliams.com. Twitter: @Dare_Williams13
|
