A Poem by Tiani Kennedy

The Persistence of Memory

Pricked by time now sleep. Numbers melt off faces of clocks and settle into the quicksand of Big Bangs. Ruby bead slips from finger into ebony to birth a universe. Ripples roll through tea-light constellations. Reconfigure Orion to the incision of her hand. Call it Midwood. You’ll never forget me then. But wait. Wait on the landing between zodiac flights. Wait on the buckle of stars’ broken belts. Leather is easily repaired. Use ivory stitches and he says go with him. Neither ascend nor descend into realms where black holes like piranhas swim. The leatherworker lays hides into moving sidewalks beneath an acrylic tunnel. Moons and suns are dots in black water. Stretch forth hand to usher follower. Her opened flesh stains the metal hinge of his watch. Forever’s remains. Are you coming?

Though born in Jamaica, West Indies, Tiani Kennedy grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. She is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus. There, she works as a tutor in the Writing Center and will teach a freshman composition course this coming fall. In addition to writing both fiction and poetry, she is also a studio artist who paints and draws mostly surreal images.