Nat Briggs

lorjournal


Two Poems
Nat Briggs

–

Leave Your Body

Stay the night 
Dream about half a wristwatch
Bad omen 

I didn’t wear the right shoes in the snow
I didn’t want to buy a couch in case we broke up

The ideal body will absorb all incident 

Covering up a life with a life
You would know I was only trying
To prove I could handle it

I can’t do much for sex
Have / describe

Possession 
Beautiful furniture

Sophisticated longing
Never forgetting to brush your teeth

The wildlife area is not the holiday park
We all make love in 

You cannot polarize a random movement 

I told you I was leaving the country 
You said, that’s different 


Friend

My father covers my ears
With headphones, listen

I go home 
He is still alive

Smaller in photos

Transparency not
The reconciling force I hoped for

Writing back to my sister 
Not bringing her closer

I approximate death well
When friend cannot be friend

Grateful for the hurt words
Pinned above my head

Thank you for the loyalty
Thank you for the commitment

Thank you for keeping 
The conversation going

Sleeping with a stone 
Useful Object on my windowsill

Rubbing a sponge over 
Your image

Hair holds
I wash out

Ocean dirt
This year

You tell me home might never feel like home
Bad lighting and the long table

This is 
My chair

Missing the bus at sunset
Forty-five minutes walking down Division

I felt you in the room, hypocrite
Long day and the fault in me

I don’t know my new address
I haven’t forwarded my mail

My sister says, don’t worry,
You can borrow money

Wound Giant 
Over the turning world

Walking large
Wearing old clothes

I don’t think about joy
My father is my greatest joy

I showed him mine, he said
You feed so many beasts 

You’re walking up the stairs
Losing your name 

I’m telling myself
Be sick

I buy blue sheets
Steal your grey sheets

I don’t miss your body 
I want to sleep alone

Growl and bore into the beloved

I’m at your door
At the end of your bed

My hands turn to gold and hit
I want to hurt you

The only place in me that isn’t furred 
Resists

Nat Briggs is a queer poet and video artist currently undertaking an undergraduate degree at RMIT in Creative Writing. Nat’s writing has appeared across the web and in print, in places such as Gramma Poetry, PANK, and Verge. Nat is a co-host of Describe Series, a poetry and performance event in Melbourne.