for Tamiko
you open up space to notate
a paper-made flight scrawling towards window
to ghost all seeds and wonder
a breath underneath hairline
a circulation of wonder
we practice calling down sky
plant our minor stitchings in other cities
still asking
who floats to crimson who boxes each air
who once again stretches each night syllable
is a wise queer move
who once again floods floor of testimony
who once again recreates each hot sun animal
demanding recompense
even if each future a woodland forest replaced by swamp
each morning another mouth full of air
each evening still an open-vessel gathering
𐫱
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Ching-In Chen is author of The Heart's Traffic: a novel in poems and recombinant (2018 Lambda Literary Award) as well as chapbooks to make black paper sing and Kundiman for Kin :: Information Retrieval for Monsters. Chen co-edited The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities.
About the Poem
“I received a sweet request from my dear friend Tamiko Beyer’s partner to contribute poems, songs, blessings/spells and recipes to celebrate and fortify her for the milestone of her 50th birthday. Though I began writing Spells as protection and defense in recent times, it felt fitting to write a celebration spell for what has been a sustaining friendship. Tamiko is also the co-editor of Poetry as Spellcasting: Poems, Essays, and Prompts for Manifesting Liberation and Reclaiming Power, and I wanted to celebrate her visionary and creative leadership as a source of inspiration."