Jake Bailey

Darkness

Enter the dialog between

the dying of language
and doubting crows,

trees communicating with
the book of the dead,

pages creased
where vision lingers

on irreducible constructs,

the ribbon in the box, dependence on uncertainty,

pen on the page, a pale sun
dyeing soft sky into apology,

eschatology of communion,
a single silver cup

awaiting the kiss

of lips dried to bone—

perhaps all darkness is

hunting

for home

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Jake Bailey is a schiZotypal experientialist with published or forthcoming work in Abstract Magazine, The American Journal of Poetry, Constellations, Diode Poetry Journal, Frontier Poetry, Guesthouse, Mid-American Review, Palette Poetry, PANK Magazine, Passages North, Storm Cellar, TAB: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics, Tar River Poetry and elsewhere. Jake received his MA from Northwest Missouri State University and his MFA from Antioch University, Los Angeles. He is a former editor for Lunch Ticket, current associate editor for Storm Cellar and reads for The Los Angeles Review and Grist: A Journal of the Literary Arts. Jake lives in Illinois with his wife and their three dogs. You can find him on Twitter and Instagram (@SaintJakeowitz) and at saintjakeowitz.xyz.