The Embryo, Repeated

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

ripe & pumping giddily

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

present & unasked & ready

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion    

precise as mathematics

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

shoulders up against the wind

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

peace be upon the lion

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

& everyone always says how glamorous

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

as a prize

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

& how is this manifestation distinguished from all the other animals?

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

I said how is this lion distinguished from all the other animals?

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

a toll, a shimmer, a serious cloud, valuable, brief

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

behold, my lion

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

l’chayim     l’chayim

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

it is beloved

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

in the kitchen

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

ah thunder!

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

& the urge for daylight is real

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

& a stag rutting in a meadow

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

a rare nocturnal lion

I know that I look the same / but I have manifested a lion

ta for noting how this lion is distinguished from the other animals

I have popped it into a segmented tray

I have left it to set at optimal temp

*

& bloody etcetera!

gawd

I owe Cath a letter

she wrote in April & now

it’s almost September

I should phone Pam too

phone Pam write to Cath

tell them I’m moving

to latch back onto the hopeless dresses of

Sde Boker with my goy ex, or

to Whanganui, maybe

What is the time?

Sam Duckor-Jones

Sam is an artist and writer from Wellington. His first poetry collection People From The Pit Stand Up was published in 2018 (VUP) and his second Party Legend will be published in June 2021 (VUP). He has exhibited widely and is represented by Bowen Galleries. In 2020 he bought a church near Greymouth that he is turning into a sculpture.