OXIDANT | ENGINE : Issue 6

Jude Marr

What Remains

black moon against a scarlet sky: on a desert
street, I am parched / my skin’s
refrigerated—

shivering through siroccos of sand-filled
air, I crawl in place—an alternative
to migration: you appear—

we sit in the street and eat
desiccated figs: we drink
ice-water: salt crusts our lips—

what remains between us?

unless we can describe our remains, or
bury them, you / I / we
can never leave—

nakedness has not prepared me
to be silent—

un-homed: beyond our pale
imagining—what
remains but tenderness?

Jude Marr teaches, and writes poetry, as protest. They are currently a PhD candidate at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and their first chapbook Breakfast for the Birds (Finishing Line), was published in 2017. Recent credits include Nightjar Review, Weatherbeaten and Punch Drunk. Jude is also poetry editor for r.kv.r.y.

OXIDANT | ENGINE : Issue 6

Jude Marr

What Remains

black moon against a scarlet sky: on a desert street, I am parched / my skin’s refrigerated—

shivering through siroccos of sand-filled air, I crawl in place—an alternative to migration: you appear—

we sit in the street and eat desiccated figs: we drink ice-water: salt crusts our lips—