YouBot

If I could
decant our conversations,
filter away sedimental emotion -
this
gagged love*, this saline sadness, this anger
etc -
and pour
only
the froth of
our younger words,

If I could
distill a you that would
only
sublime ideas with me
on the tip of your unattainable tongue,

If I could
lie in bed after a summer sunset
with a subset of
the fragile complexity that makes you
you

I would.

...

* - I shall keep my promise

subtle

gently, gently
pushing, prodding
the needle breaks the skin
and the ink sighs,
"we are finally home".
you poked a little heart onto my knee
the boniest part of my body -
the most resistant part of my body -
and yet you continue pushing and prodding. . .
i have never felt more loved

- Isabel

Random Selection

“You have been randomly selected”
says a bored man, as he extracts
an apology
for all 6’3” of me. Meat,
that
is now carved
by blue eyes and blue fingers and
vibrating wands looking for
weapons (that are illegal to carry
where I come from) as
I try to fly.

I try to fly, but
am weighed down
by the color of my
(passport’s)
skin, and the length
of my beard and
vowels, and only after
long last do I get permission
(permission!)
to set foot
(much like Columbus)
on this land.

...

How much greater
will you make this country?