Longing Poem
—Emily M. Goldsmith
Longing Poem
After Frank O’Hara
So we are coming out of the darkness, we are
opening our mouths? As if we can talk freely.
I hear music, an aching echo,
a keening prompting; our souls are not free
even if this closet is left
behind us. I cloak myself in reminders,
tattoo up and down my body, I watch the play
in which the players enact freedom. There
is a moment where the player looks into
the audience, the darkness, and their eyes mirror
deep wanting, a hunger
that doesn’t breathe. I drag my thumb down
the center of my face from my forehead, across
the bridge of my nose, across my closed lips.
It is a summer day, and I want.
About
EMILY M. GOLDSMITH (they/them) is a queer Cajun-Creole poet originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They are currently a Ph.D. student in Creative Writing at the University of Southern Mississippi. A Pushcart-nominated poet, their creative work can be found in The Penn Review, Vagabond Lit, Witch Craft Mag, and elsewhere. Their chapbook, Alligator is a Fish, was a 2023 finalist for Two Sylvia's Press and DIAGRAM's Chapbook Prize Contests.