earth and sky
by t. zoEy benally

i want to write you something beautiful
i want to communicate me to you so that you will understand
and be compelled to hide a little piece of me inside your mind
communicate me then, communicate me now
so that when we are both gone from here
we might both have, the universe might have
that small whisker of understanding,
communication launched, unfettered ships, colorful flags flying
sent out into unknown, deep dark secret seas
and received, welcomed, by neighboring shores

what did i taste like back then? did i taste like honey?
my skin, lips and tongue flavored with unknown bee
thoughts, dusted yellow with flower pollen
or did i taste like wild, sticky red-gold dates
adorned with crystallized sugar lace
dipped in fresh milk still nutty, unpasteurized
or maybe i tasted like fresh bread soft, still warm
from the oven with the slightest hint of crust
fragrant with fennel seeds, light coat of butter
i wanted to taste of fertile valleys, dark earth, the future

how did it feel to travel outside map boundaries?
to hear my parched deserts call to your towering rain clouds
beckon and beg precious moisture, just short of hurricanes
how did it feel, stormy skies, whorled zephyrs
ancient code strung up spiral staircase through generations
how did it feel when platectonic plates shifted, birthing
new volcanoes, electric lightning bolts grounding in earth
rivers meniscus raised with runoff from turbulent storms
both coming to grey junctions where boundaries blur
where your atoms and molecules mix with mine

if this is beautiful--please welcome this message
encoded in yes-no bottles, carried on electron tides
if this is beautiful please accept this gift from my mind
small ribbon of time tied, threaded through heart muscle fibers
so that the blood that reaches every capillary
has been tinged with this memory fragment, melted tissue dye
coloring rouge lips, coconut shell eyes, blushed cheeks
if this is beautiful--please provide amnesty
to this criminal that holds on to and treasures
all flavors of quarks left by who you were
who i was, who we were...

hollow, filled
by t. zoEy benally

today fifteen cats were trapped by their own hunger
starved hollow, internal fleas nibbling at their innards
chortle in the greenish pink depths of carnivore gut
in between sips of plasma, meowed and scratched
from filthy cat litter that will now never be changed
tidy clay forever steeped in digest mousie juice

carved out hulls where sunlit children once danced
rattle and roll with words bellowed from wind lungs
abandoned seed husks tumble and crush beneath
gravity powered feet, rushing off into important futures
and fifteen cats share my fate, imprisoned until the end
imprisoned to prove that someone is capable of love

but potential wealth is not love for anyone except yourself
and i would wish for my future, to be lost in Columbia or to fade back
into the anise scented past, rafters pungent with dried
marjoram, thyme, lavender, chamomile, and find myself wrapped in
fragrant cotton sheets, absorbing your warmth and resting complete
beneath the squinty sun's gaze, empty cavern filled by your hope

my little pony
by t. zoEy benally

my little pony has a one trick mind
gobbles down my ideas and calls them pony's own
my little pony's borrowed ideas cascade plastic pastel
twirl enticingly down pretend pony purple cheek

my little pony has a single cell mind
regurgitates key phrases, memorized mantras
furiously scribbles notes to remind pony brain
of all the cool things to think

my little pony has unified my minions
organized them into one non-thinking blob
taught them obedience, learn them
not to creatively ponder

my little one trick pony will one day
take over the world and lead the lemming mass
marching unified, mezmerized over canyon ledges
cloned images of me