Sept. 19, 2022
Audio
imagine distinct from anticipate
By Leslie McIntosh
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imagine distinct from anticipate
By Leslie McIntosh
Inconsistent love like harpsichords &
my Asos drawers on the floor, ostensibly neutral—
music is gray until danced. My private skills
get damp with company. Moist interlocutor, come
sweeten my name. Break the trellis in my blood
climbing toward the last lit window. Keep hanging
until a flaming rope of bedsheets drifts toward you.
This is your only choice, my best negotiations at work.
On one side, you will find my house refused
to burn down, the only bedroom a shrine
to closure. On the other, a perfect blackness
develops coherence. It shines, but won’t welcome.
Leslie McIntosh
Leslie McIntosh (he/sometimes they) is black, mostly cis, mostly male, male attracted, autistic, an older millennial, a poet, a fictionist, &. He has received support, in the form of residencies and fellowships, from Breadloaf, Callaloo, Millay Arts, The Watering Hole, Zoeglossia, and more. Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in Beloit Poetry Journal, Foglifter, Obsidian, Southern Humanities Review, Witness, and elsewhere. He was a semi-finalist in the 2022 92Y Discovery Poetry Contest and has been a Pushcart nominee. They are an Assistant Poetry Editor at Newfound and live on the stolen land of the Munsee Lenape, currently known as Jersey City, NJ, USA.
Image description: Leslie (he/sometimes they) is a male presenting black person out in nature. He is wearing a plain black t-shirt and a pair of glass with ivory/marble frames. The lenses are transitioning to shady in the early afternoon sunshine.