Erin J. Mullikin & David Wojciechowski

Gravitas

We can’t help it; we’re always falling.
Every step is a footfall. We accept this. And yes,
sometimes we are words tumbling towards our fathers,

I meant feathers, as in the welcome deafening of a heavy fall.
But first, before fathers or feathers, I meant calling,
as in trying to hear voices we can no longer hear.

These voices, they’ve dropped low. They’ve sunk and now
float at ankle-level. Trampled.
By horses. By hooves. By small stairs and ones that spin.

Horses made from thunder, and soon, clouds. Clouds with iron feet.
A hammer driven by a kick of lightning into a horse’s eye
to forge new eyes that see in storms,
ones that see under this moon or none.

Erin J. Mullikin‘s work can be found in ​ILK, Tammy, Best New Poets 2014, and alice blue review. She is a founding editor of NightBlock and Midnight City Books.

David Wojciechowski‘s work can be found in Bateau, Better, iO, and elsewhere.