VENUS

by David R. Miller

On the leaf-scattered floor
Of the clearing
Two bodies
Lay peering
Upwards and into
A uniform
Twilit sky

Faces brushing
And contours encased
Crowns pressed
Lightly
On collarbones
Look!
The first star
She exclaimed
Yes, or is it?
The other responded with care
So bright
It could only be
Venus

And it shone
Like a candle
Like a beam
Like a fire
Until the night sky became
Cerulean, opaque

And her head
Slowly arced
Seeking inverted mouth
Until lips
Pressed on lips
Tasted upside-down tongue
Kissing firmly
Persistent
Patient, unrushed
And her lover
She answered
In kind

Immersion

by David R. Miller

I have been shot from a cannon
I’ve been speaking in tongues
I’m an endless stream of consciousness
A convict on the run
I am a Khoikhoi
A Ghilliak
The tip of the phalanx
At the point of attack
I am a Valkyrie
A Black Sheep Turk
Revisit Mau-Mau
It’s a method that will work
I am the luckiest cat
I have a tenth life
I am the sperm that finds the egg
I am Casca
With a knife