Nolan Dannels
Bones
found my way out
set aside my knuckle bones
laughed until my ribs cracked
& watched an undead sunset
grinning ear to ear
knowing it will return
found my way back in
held my ankles back
'cause i didn't want to trip
head over heels in love
with a moonstruck mirage
too cold to care
lost the will to stay still
felt detached from my knees down
cried until my shoulders came off
& watched an untied sunrise
that cackled back at me
knowing i would hear it
lost the will to move
slept for years inside a heavy skull
'cause dreams are such a soft respite
from the life i've been given
& death's just another lost bone
another joint gone
as the body breaks down
found the skeleton i used to have
in a past life
watched it dance with the joy
that i must have felt back then somehow
& smiled with a tear or two
knowing these bones used to move
found a reason to care
lost control of logic
& watched an unwed sundeath
crawling towards a pile of my bones
knowing they won't be enough
for me to dance again
set aside my knuckle bones
laughed until my ribs cracked
& watched an undead sunset
grinning ear to ear
knowing it will return
found my way back in
held my ankles back
'cause i didn't want to trip
head over heels in love
with a moonstruck mirage
too cold to care
lost the will to stay still
felt detached from my knees down
cried until my shoulders came off
& watched an untied sunrise
that cackled back at me
knowing i would hear it
lost the will to move
slept for years inside a heavy skull
'cause dreams are such a soft respite
from the life i've been given
& death's just another lost bone
another joint gone
as the body breaks down
found the skeleton i used to have
in a past life
watched it dance with the joy
that i must have felt back then somehow
& smiled with a tear or two
knowing these bones used to move
found a reason to care
lost control of logic
& watched an unwed sundeath
crawling towards a pile of my bones
knowing they won't be enough
for me to dance again
Biography
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Nolan Dannels (he/him) is a Persian American poet and lyricist who graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Master's in English Language and Literature, and he is currently a Literature PhD student, specializing in contemporary Anglophone poetry at the University of California, San Diego, in addition to serving as the Editor in Chief of Alchemy, Journal of Translation for its Summer 2020 issue. For the amusement of both himself and his friends, he often writes absurdist parodies of classic children's short stories and fairy tales, which he refers to as "Nolar Bear Tales" because they feature a talking polar bear who serves as a comical version of his own persona. Aside from translations of French poetry published elsewhere, this poem is his first publication in any journal.
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