Transmission

by Kat Moore

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How did your brother die?
 
His skin fell off
 
You said that already
 
Can you say pandemic?
Or worms inside the mind
Microscopic
Lights up in ultraviolet
Tiny worms crawling in veins
Red veins
Pulsing veins a living thing
Carrying the disease to every part of his body
Head to toes
& into the other boys he loves
 
Dig in dirt with fingers
& shine a light on gold
Randy sold gold chains
Randy had a son
Randy wasn’t my brother but he died first
his love mushrooming out of greenhouses
& into my brother
The American dream of cock my dear brother
To love & be wild my dear brother
kissing mouths on bourbon to give them what’s inside my dear brother
 
Ashes follow the swamps to the river to the dark blue under eyelids under beautiful boys
Who love beautiful boys
This was before all the medicine
This was before you could get it and live
In the end, he had
veins full of morphine
feathers
twisting without sin