Christopher Dunn
Hope
Where the night meets the roundabout of moon, wishes
go to die and so become desire. They free-
fall to earth and in the jasmine they hatch over
the wrought iron of night and trellises
of bodies. What a petty thing, a wish,
resined with unincinerable fear that escorts the need
to place faith. Now desire with its humid
wings and heavy breathing tucks into one's chest
like a skipped beat, an arrhythmia unfolds
to the very edges. There is a fullness
that attends want, a young bird caged in my hands
(its heartbeat strung into one long expression),
that can be set free or its neck snapped,
with a simple gesture, like a wishbone.
Christopher Dunn holds his PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. He is currently Editor in Chief and Programs Director for Spacetaker, a non-profit cultural arts organization and resource center for artists in Houston. He has been published in numerous publications including Provincetown Arts, The Texas Review, Poet, and The Paris Review.