In Service to the Cycle

Jesse Miksic

 

This is the key to open

        the monkey’s mouth

    the screaming fire

            the glacier rider

        issuing us his dire signs —

    extended digits

        making mad designs

 

This key is a crypt,

        a rotary shock

    of animation in our

        viral eyes — an exponential

    consensus of notches,

        a grand harangue

    of solid states all

falling into place

 

Its place is

    molar, sinusoidal,

        ostrich feather,

    a hinge convulsing

        in the weather

    a fish with ears,

        a man with paws,

            divergent

                mockery

        of your

highest laws

 

A mask that rises

    through the harvest

    from the Simiiformal

        seed beneath — and how

    the chorus begs

        for him to

            taste us

        while we

    count

his teeth.

 

 

***

Jesse Miksic is a graphic designer and writer living in Peekskill, New York. He spends his life writing poetry, nursing unfinished projects, and having adventures with his wonderful wife and daughter. Recent and forthcoming placements include Heron Tree, Drunk Monkeys, Liminality, Praxis Magazine Online, and others.