American Snake Sonnet
By Maggie Rue Hess
There are so few things without a reference; there cannot be a lover without beloveds.
Abhay wrote, You returned empty handed from the farms of love, his
ghazal a seeking. We believe in couplets as long as they are in service to each other and more.
As long as they torque
and hinge like the body of a snake resisting. Or the jaw of a snake
refanged. O scaled oblivion. Where in the body do you search
for feeling? There are those for whom not finding is the point—the price and
privilege. Without harvest, we attempt a different accumulation. There can be no farm without promise
but also risk. Call it yearning. Call through the morning’s mist for a neighbor or a pet to return more
than an echo. Whoever responds understands your lonesome
labor. Such a rarity, to be heard. I settle for a silence of my own making, attempt
to ask more questions kindly. Dissipate and gather. Using my hands
the way they’re intended, that both-ness of hold and release. Is this a necessary repetition?
O serpentine
recollection: everything missed is named beloved.
Maggie Rue Hess (she/her) is a PhD student living in Knoxville, Tennessee, with her partner and their crusty white dog. Her work has appeared in Rattle, Connecticut River Review, SWWIM Every Day, and other publications; her debut chapbook, The Bones That Map Us, was published by Belle Point Press in 2024. She likes to share baked goods with friends and can be found on Instagram as @maggierue_.
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