Two Poems by A.J. Huffman

Welcomed.  But Scarcely Belonging.

Not even the day-stars

can understand

my insecurity.

They are still burning.

Unseen.

But still alive.

I am nowhere.

Invisible.

In light

and dark.

I am undefined.

And you are unconcerned.

As long as your fingers

can still reach

through me.

No Room for Shattered Mouths

Even your silence commands

my attention.

Actually focuses it.

Like a bow.

Pulled too tight.

Too quickly.

I cannot breathe.

But that is not a trick.

Not your trick, at least.

You are too complete

                                  ly full

of this not quite death.

I touch you.

Your eyes are cold.

But sharp.

They cut me.

To teach me.

Listen.

My screams

have fallen.

Finally.

Lost.

To me.

Inside.

A.J. Huffman has published eleven solo chapbooks and one joint chapbook through various small presses.  Her new poetry collection, Another Blood Jet, is not available from Eldritch Press.  She has two more poetry collections forthcoming:  A Few Bullets Short of Home, from mgv2>publishing and Degeneration, from Pink. Girl. Ink.  She is a Multiple Pushcart Prize nominee, and has published over 2100 poems in various national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, Bone Orchard, EgoPHobia, and Kritya.  She is also the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press.  www.kindofahurricanepress.com