These are the First Lines I’ve Written in Months
Dale Booton
while I’m on my first date in four years
my brother nearly dies the universe laughs at me
through its ecliptic lips its starlight teeth aglow
above our lips meeting like explorers
in the dimmed cosmos of his car my brother
some miles away swimming the open tide of space
to escape the black hole of his throat
a single constellation of chicken
lodged there like the pocket of air he dares to catch and I
there catching my heart in my throat
staring into moonglory eyes fearful of the night’s
withdrawal and the awakening morn while my brother
having swallowed the sun grasps at the aflamed
flesh he watches on the screen alone terrified I think
this is the juxtaposition writers look for eyes
open in the dark only to close when
they meet the light the way the chest labours between
rise and fall the heart a comet outgassing
as it is clutched in the outstretched hands of a star
Dale Booton (he/him) is a twenty-six year old queer poet from Birmingham. He is a teacher by trade and a poet by nature. His poetry has been published by Verve in their Diversity anthology, Untitled: Voices, Re-Side, and on The Poetry Society. Most recently, his poetry has been featured by Ligeia, Queerlings, Fahmidan, Tealight Press, Dreich, Selcouth Station Press, Spelt, Acid Bath Publishing and Musell Press. He is currently working on his first pamphlet.