Tuesday Poem

Different Names for Lamotrigine

—after Sam Sax

Bitter thing—swallowed
…….. with bread, cake,
a curtain of water closing my throat,
……..anything to keep from tasting
the slight in my magician’s hand.
……..Magic is any science
you do not understand. So, too,
……..is God. Faith is
the way I trust the bitter taste will
……..turn me sweet; prayer
is how I start every day with it
……..on my tongue
before any lover, before opening
……..the window to let
the morning sun make shadows
……..where there were none
before. My body is a haunted house
……..cracking under
its own weight. Love is anything that
……..banishes the ghosts.

by Jaz Sufi
from
Pank Magazine, poetry 13.1, 2018