Bonneville by Kevin Blankinship

Bonneville

Dead sea of hoary dust begins to glow

so bright it drags the teardrops off my face

and leaves a woolly sprinkle in their place

like shards of angry lilies going slow.

An elemental ocean here below

while up above the plated crystals brace

into a briny membrane all apace

forming a crop of rhomboids in a row.

Did Carthage razed and ruined look so fair?

One pinch over the shoulder whips the ghouls—

a glance from Lot’s wife cast her anchor there

in snowy stone shut up with brackish jewels.

You, fairest white, embrace me with a breath.

You who at once preserve and proffer death.

********

Kevin Blankinship, PhD

Assistant Professor, Arabic Language and Literature

Contributing Editor, New Lines Magazine

Brigham Young University, 3058 JFSB

Provo, UT 84602 | (801) 422-4684
kevin_blankinship@byu.edu | Homepage

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