What stardust lies beneath mud
\nand solitude in the mangroves. What sings us
\nsweet nothings to the stiffness we hide
\nin our bodies? There\u2019s a longing<\/p>\n
for the maps of our unpretty. Touching
\nthe crevices for regions marked along
\nin silence after the violence strips a glow
\nfrom our forgotten smiles. Do you remember<\/p>\n
the last time you were mouthed? There
\nlies an absence between fervor and acceptance
\nthe way how my mother holds my father
\nmangled mouth the first time the shrapnel<\/p>\n
shatters his jaw after a robbery. The first time
\nhis callous mouth is a jagged language
\nfor her lips only. The first time she plants
\nher hands against the scar tissue<\/p>\n
after surgery. The first time I watch him
\nafter therapy, stretch for a vowel. O\u2019 his mouth
\nshapes my mother\u2019s name for comfort.
\nHold still now. I know where the pain is.<\/p>\n
Let me rub it here. Let me rub it here.
\nI watch my mother find harmony
\nlodged where the bullet dwells
\nin his bones. O\u2019 for how long<\/p>\n
I crave for a similar touch
\nbetween shimmer and umbra
\nwhen my charmless days
\nhave wilted away<\/p>\n
Hold still now.
\nLet me rub.
\nLet me rub it.
\nHere.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What stardust lies beneath mud and solitude in the mangroves. What sings us sweet nothings to the stiffness we hide in our bodies? There\u2019s a longing for the maps of our unpretty. Touching the crevices for regions marked along in silence after the violence strips a glow from our forgotten smiles. Do you remember the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2317,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[82,1],"tags":[25],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Jypy-50S","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19274"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2317"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19275,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19274\/revisions\/19275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}