By Salem Paige

1.

you circle the problem
like a predator hunting
weakness, call yourself
the prey / victim to
your own instincts,
the flaws in your wiring

2. 

a flower grows towards
the sun, if it shines.
if not, to whatever is
brightest. you grow towards
the fire; the matchstick
house you let burn down
in front of you.

3. 

a relentless spinning –
are you dizzy yet ? I’m
only kidding, I know you
spend your waking hours
on your knees begging for
salvation between a lover’s
soft lips, or thighs.

4. 

following whatever calls
to you the loudest, the
hardest, with the most
convincing colours, were you
a bird in a past life ? preening
and plucking and impressed
most by plumage,
surely you recognize the
migratory patterns of your
whims and how they
always take you back
to the same fallen nest.

5. 

or maybe you don’t,
unchanged and trapped by
cycles / step back and
observe, where is the
crack in the wall ? why
do you find yourself
in front of it again ? how
can you repair it, how
can you force it
to finally break ?

6. 

we’re older and wiser now;
or at least I’m the latter.
how many hills do you
have to fall down before
you blame your legs
and not the gentle incline ?
I can’t give you my hands
to hold if you’ll only ever
pull me down after you.

Salem Paige (they/them) is a disabled, trans genderfluid poet and digital artist whose works often revolve around the exploration of identity and discomfort through narrative universes where Nature and technology intertwine. Their work can be found in their collection of poetry, The Third Self (2023, Sunday Mornings at the River Press) and their chapbook to grow roots (2023, bottlecap press), as well as more than four dozen literary magazines, journals, and anthologies including Anti-Heroin Chic, Bywords, STREETCAKE magazine, the League of Canadian Poets, and many others. They have previously been nominated for Best of the Net, shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize, and longlisted for the ROOM Poetry Prize. Paige lives and works on Algonquin Anishinaabe territory (so-called Ottawa, Ontario) with their partner and their three cats. 

More on Paige can be found on their website salempaige.com.

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