this our muscled temperatures:

full of blooddrunk heat, the ember             swollen with the memory of crumpled paper
          its tightknit fortitude              its effortless combustion           to be warmed by such                                                                      destruction                 by such insistence the ember          purpling         
the memory of its compressed body twisting into            such alive tendernesses        such
simmering         whiteness       absolute              caught heat in its own throat           & this                                                               is the riddle                                        the possibility of expansion
with temperature with                                                 its own feathering forces
                the collaboration of compression                                                                     & a drastic                                                      swath of air    swarming                   burn & unburn &                  what              
fundamental collusion          this     
            is the riddle                hands tearing sheets
into heat         into new devastating bodies                        lifespan coiled among pockets of               
             air
                                    & feathering                           the heat
                                                            makes these new devastating                      whispers or
            this is the riddle
                                                                                                the twig is not a twig but a danger
                        a decision
                                    let’s eat the fire until we’ve unfurled ourselves into ourselves          our 

                                                                                    sweltering persistences
                                                                                                if you want to build a body then
                                                                        burn it

 
Abi Pollokoff

Abi Pollokoff is a writer, editor, and book artist with work found in Radar Poetry, Palette Poetry, EcoTheo, and Denver Quarterly, among others. She was a finalist for the 2022 Consiton Prize and the 2022 Gatewood Prize, and her work has been supported by The Seventh Wave, Jack Straw Cultural Center, and more. Currently, Abi is the managing editor for Poetry Northwest Editions and a production editor for Girl Friday Productions. She received her MFA from the University of Washington. Find her at abipollokoff.com.

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these our sacred storms: