vines brush expanding against windows, and thorns 

stick to my teeth. i touch the vestiges of you,

wild-eyed, holding myself against doorframes to feel

your shadow pass through my flesh. do you think of

transition? it's summer and we are all undying, we

are all monsters. the heat ruins us. 

the season stills me. it catches me in stasis, amber,

and i cube mangoes gold-leafed to offer you. if i feed

you, will you stay, fey-caught? build me a home of

glass and let the sun spill me open. build me a home

underneath the fairy hill and stop me in time. i

collect my bone and sinew into a greenhouse to

contain the remnants of you. 

water the plants with me, when summer ends

Kavi Kshiraj (they/them or ve/ver) is a queer, Indo-American poet found in New Jersey. They spend time on hobbies such as writing, mythology, and their various identity crises. They can be found on Tumblr as @kavikshiraj, and on Instagram/Twitter as @klytaimestra.