Sal Kang

sent to

(with Mitski)

i’m tired of not loving you labyrinth of bones
painted bathtub, square home i always wanted to make disappear

sorry i broke all our belongings that day our high heels
& makeup & hair all turned glimmering
eggshells & pretty dust

blood music on your clean walls

—it’s been a long hard twenty years silently housed in all this beauty

through your eyes & wet teeth we stepped into
so many summers together

i guess
it’s really been you & me since before i was me

though mom says at the end i will still be fossilized a girl,
biology is now a balcony i hold my breath &
jump away from

my heart will land in your lawn & from your doorstep i will say

thank you thank you thank you to the pond of your heart, crying like a tall child

body, if i could keep anything of you i would keep just this quiet after you,
forget how to take good care of you, retire all our skirts
& stop dreaming of unleashing us down a rooftop in the dark

body, bag of crushed little stars—

let me walk to the top of the big night sky