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.