A Poem by henry 7. reneau, jr.

breath of fire

for breanne sparta

its nucleus seething
ambition in chains
because living landscapes
constantly shift & earthquake
are just the truth of us
as once
we had all been flesh together

hunters & gatherers
now epithelium
in eruption more than mute perishing
a film of stratified cuboidal strength
that once lined
the inner & outer surfaces of us
contrived a conjugated dream of freedom
marking time in an expanding universe

we could never
get far enough away from ourselves
to see all the parts at once
the whole the sum of
stardust pinpoints of life
a fevered galaxy of tight
pavement-like cells
awakened from a stasis of dispossessed &
shouts their free will:
it is us!
           it is us all along!

connexin-ed together:
the surging omen
of water gathering force
the susurrus sound of wind
between silence &
the metamorphosis of becoming
gale force hurricane
its presence in a different sense
or at least
on a different plane of be-ing
wholly the Al Green color
of nothing except elemental

henry 7. reneau, jr. writes words in fire to wake the world ablaze:  free verse illuminated by courage that empathizes with all the awful moments, launching a freight train warning that blazes from the heart, like a chambered bullet exploding inadvertently.  His poetry collection, freedomland blues (Transcendent Zero Press, 2014), was released in September of 2014.  He also has an echapbook, entitled physiography of the fittest (Kind of a Hurricane Press), which was released in December of 2014.  Additionally, he has also self-published a chapbook entitled 13hirteen Levels of Resistence, and is currently working on a book of connected short stories.