American Abyss
Cynthia Dewi Oka

I followed here the heart
I built for you. Here it is, blue

as the preening peacock’s crest, bruise
renewed again and again. Blue as

children made vapor, families ground
to grist raining on the accordion

chest of the sea. I followed here my own
forgetting of the fireflies that blink
like prayers in belligerent grasses; my
dreams of mattering, as in appearing–

a noun in your syntax. that stone
you strike for water. Is this not

the dream? To take more than
bodies have to give, then eat without

discord? I want you to know I have
always understood my place. That

the only feeling more beautiful than
your fear is your want. Look,

how your flowers light the world.

Cynthia Dewi Oka is the author of four poetry collections.
She lives in Los Angeles.