You understood
nothing
except the piece
of yourself
you tore out of us
and tossed at the fault line
beating like a heart.
I built this poem
around the jagged wound,
refired in the kiln of a sun
who heard my
silent bleeding
and wept aloud
for the breaking you had done.
© 2025 Jennifer Wagner
dVerse Poetics: Building from the Broken
Sunlight and droplets of water
are sparkling diamonds
dancing across my neck,
my turned-up palms
are filled with golden light,
and the turquoise sky feathers me
with kisses.
A stirring in the branches
of a jacaranda tree
sweeps across my eyes, blueing them
with shadow.
September’s oranges are plumping,
yellow splotches forming
on their dark emerald shells—
an invitation to a far-off harvest of sweetness.
The navy-coal cloak of midnight
wraps me in suede, clinging
like a crush—
with the flaming ruby of my lips
repeating your name
on the low-howling desert wind.