Jesse Mack

*

Love whenever
I hold my head under
water for more
than a few seconds I start
to think I hear
my body creating
heat, performing
the basic functions
turning whatever
part of an animal
I ate that morning
into fuel
for breathing
I admit this seems
misguided but who isn’t
trying to understand
what happens inside them
without them
wanting it to
I don’t know every
bird in this city
has somebody’s bread
in its mouth
it feels like living
is becoming gradually
easier the daylight
stops me when I
look at these buildings
achieving briefly
stillness or
what do you call it
weight

Jesse Mack lives in Somerville, Massachusetts and holds an MFA from the University of New Hampshire. His poems have appeared in journals such as Columbia Poetry Review, Vinyl Poetry, Bodega and Cloud Rodeo, among others. His first chapbook, The End of Theme Parks, is forthcoming from Strange Cage Press.