By Johnathan Lay

     ~for Sarah Hezegil



darling your hands
are blue skies

flaking into your open
mouth

where you first built
your name and

called yourself into
being

while dreaming of rainbows
across the east

and into the west
like a full toothed smile

that can only bend so much
before it breaks
into stars

~~~~~

Johnathan Lay is a Southern writer living in New York City. His poetry explores ideas of race, sexuality, and their intersections. He is a graduate of Georgia College and State University and received his MFA from University of San Francisco. He’s been published in the anthology Not Just Another Pretty Face, Counterclock, Heard/Word, Mudroom Magazine, and others. He’s an avid reader and stan of Marvel comics especially the X-men. And he’s always on the lookout for the perfect margarita.