Poetry
My manager speaks to me about manifestations, about how to make money
grow from beneath the wilted fingers of dead men. She talks
prayer and candles and bay leafs while I’m here still daydreaming
about the marigolds I tuck behind my bottom lip. The dirt
grows from beneath the wilted fingers of dead men. She talks
of my gums that don’t seed these flowers well, no matter how hard I try to
marigold dry leaves I tuck behind my bottom lip. The dirt
spit bouquet. Maybe it is time to acknowledge that
my gums don’t seed these flowers well, no matter how hard I try.
She is right about the water in the wording. I start to speak
spit bouquets. Start to acknowledge the
dahlias and of course they appear everywhere, like an incantation,
she is right about the water in the wording. I start to speak
encyclopedias of blossoming faith rested upon the grease of my arms.
Dahlias appearing everywhere, without explanation,
I say daffodil and become a florist carving out my loves’ shapes in an open field.
Encyclopedia of blossoming faith rested upon the grease
of my yellow slick. I say iris and let its petals crawl down my throat;
I say daffodil and become a florist carving out my loves’ shapes in
the bed of my soiled lungs; sludging my esophagus;
yellow-born silt. I say iris and let its petals crawl down my throat;
expand a silvery purple leaflet on my tongue. I say this all
to bed bois in my soiled lungs; sludge the equator of my esophagus;
Black boi, Queer boi, Flower boi
expand a silvery purple leaflet on my tongue. I say
their names
and just like a handful of sunflower seeds
they sprout from my mouth
jason b crawford (they/them) is a writer born in Washington, D.C., raised in Lansing, Michigan. Their debut chapbook collection, Summertime Fine, is out through Variant Lit. Their second chapbook, Twerkable Moments, is out from Paper Nautilus Press. Their third chapbook, Good Boi, is out from Neon Hemlock Press. Their debut collection, Full Length Year of the Unicorn Kidz, was published in 2022 by Sundress Publications. They hold a Bachelor of Science in Creative Writing from Eastern Michigan University and are the cofounder of The Knight’s Library Magazine. They are the winner of the Courtney Valentine Prize for Outstanding Work by a Millennial Artist, Vella Chapbook Contest, and Variant Lit Chapbook Contest. They were a finalist for the Tom Howard/Margaret Reid 2021 Poetry Contest and the 2021 OutWrite chapbook contest winner in poetry. Their work can be found in Split Lip Magazine, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Four Way Review, Voicemail Poems, FreezeRay Poetry, and HAD, among others. They are a current poetry MFA candidate at The New School.