Lines from the Throne of Old Ideas
Self: What is the substance of a mind?
Soul: Fireflies in a pickle jar.
Self: Is time a circle or a line?
Soul: Moth wings tapping on a drum.
Self: Am I the water or the fire?
Soul: Steam uprising from the soil.
Self: What, then, of the afterlife?
Soul: A coil of air, a curl.
MALACHI BLACK is the author of Storm Toward Morning (Copper Canyon Press, 2014) and Indirect Light (Four Way Books, 2024). Black teaches at the University of San Diego and lives in California.