look
look at me

look through the light of

a navel                      orange                       cast
                                to grace                     the table

gently
                                through                     the breast of
                                that hill                      through

the moss                    mound                      nourished
                                like mu                      to the unasked

I see you
                                portent                      as each day
                                to night                     reveals

great poets                 in sun                       in moon

who knows a light more beautiful than itself
who rises tall enough to trust the light that sets before it

 

 

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ABOUT THE POEM

Brooke Manning is a poet, musician, and death worker living in Toronto. She created and ran Likely General, a community-minded space supporting the work of 300~ queer and marginalized artists from 2013-2023. Her first book of poetry, 'So Far From the Water and Thirsty', made with visual artist Alicia Nauta, is nearly sold out of its second edition. Most recently Brooke's work has been published by Arc Magazine, Without/Pretend, Swimmers Group, and Feels. She is inspired by the ritual dance between love and fear, life and death. Brooke is currently writing her long-overdue sophomore album, helping others traverse the death sphere, and studying psychotherapy.