From the Pineapple Literary 'Zine

Set Loose by the Mouth that Sings Like That by Aiyana Masla

Surely you know the feeling
today, & open the door,
step out to the sunlight in your eyes
your hair uncombed, everything thick,
the chair damp from last night’s rain
your feet immediately you,
half-way back in your body
as you return from sleep,
& knowing that
you’ll miss this, afterward.

Love can last whole lifetimes

a season, a drink, or a ght.
& while it’s here, it’s savorable.
Its pressing your ngers
to the rosemary plant & bringing them
to your face, inhale — that one gesture —
your arm extending & returning
done almost without thought,
done to remember.
We lose this, even while it happens.

Open the window. Open the door.

Step out on the sunlight.
You love the sunlight.
Squint into it. Surely you
know the feeling;
last night’s rain, everything thick
sleepy, uncombed, & knowing
you will miss this.
You already miss this.

Springtime with its peepers, rain, mayflies.

Mud. Tulips, pink, & there,
cut, on the table.
Time so slow
now its a stone. So quick
it seems already on its way
so solid its ice
so all & total
that its melting,
your fingers, wet.
Listen, you can hear it breathing.

Or is it weeping? Oh, small triumphant question!

Springtime with its quickness & praising.
Thank you for asking.
How are you?
Forsythias bloom,
fragrant yellow
lustrous day
opens, opens.
The sunlight in your squinting eyes.
Surely, you know the feeling.