Thoth, Seshat —

guide my pen
past doubt, past umbra

teach my fingers to flow
as if plunging into snowmelt
brandishing brave feet.

Let my pen taste cracked lips
understand creases, dimples, sighs —
my words complicate chest, brow,
slide over hipbone —

Great Mother, Great Father,
guide stars into pencil
allow charcoal to paint mountains
my words crisp as poisoned berries
tender as talons of moss.

Let ink dream past Milky Way,
past archaic pyramids,
feel crumble of millennia,
touch wisdom with breath

Let me write the moon
chalky on swirled tongue
know sunrise
desert and jungle,
sepia

Let me mark cave and cliffs,
tell stories that even rain and mudslides
cannot tame.

Let my pen be dagger,
be balm,
offer solace and flame
Let it pray.

[Kim Malinowski is a lover of words. Her debut poetry collection Home was published by Kelsay Books. Her chapbook Death: A Love Story was published by Flutter Press. Her work has appeared in Eternal Haunted Summer, Faerie Magazine/Enchanted Living, Enchanted Conversation, Amethyst Review, Mookychick, and others. She writes because the alternative is unthinkable.]