You must know
I am the charred debris
that crumbles to the shore
a negative image
of the burning, left unburnt
trying to breathe
through a leaf
disintegrating on your tongue.
That is what I am
a desiccant
ashen talcum powder
that coats everything
and lets the mushrooms grow;
the Chanterelles that you love so much
the ones that crunch like quartz
between your teeth
the rock that the geologists
say contain phantoms
but we know, it’s just him
like residues of sand from the beach
that you lick off a lover’s skin.
Anastasios Mihalopoulos is a Greek/Italian American writer from Boardman, Ohio. He holds a B.S. in both English and Chemistry from Allegheny College and is currently a third-year MFA candidate in the Northeast Ohio MFA consortium. He also serves as the poetry center assistant for Etruscan Press. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Foothill Poetry Journal, Jenny Magazine and West Trade Review.
