​Mathias Svalina

About Love

In one picture I’m smiling at something outside the
frame, in the other I’m outside the frame myself & it’s
merely an indistinct office building ringed by a tarmac
parking lot & above, a faint purpling of mountains. The
wrought iron gate was always open so I closed the front
door tight. I walked headfirst into every pillar in every
stripmall. Mighty children with adult intents passed by
me & I could see them from the ground up, their heads
disappearing into a blur of far-frame focus. When I
kissed anyone on the mouth I ended up trapped inside
them, like the steam to the steam engine. I learned
nothing about love except that the descent is more
​difficult than the climb.

---

I’ve Climbed a Few Mountains

I’ve climbed a few mountains in my day & each time I
reach the top I get a feeling like someone just said my
name in a crowded room & I’m looking around, trying
to figure out who, if anyone, is calling to me. All day
long I elope & I elope but I never get anything done. It’s
only after night that one can sink into the pliable leather
like a singe. It’s only by moonlight that a mountain can
breathe without jurisdiction.




​​
--
Mathias Svalina is the author of one book of poems, Destruction Myth (Cleveland State University Poetry Center), one forthcoming book of prose, I Am A Very Productive Entrepreneur (Mudluscious Press) & numerous chapbooks. With Zachary Schomburg he co-edits Octopus Magazine & Octopus Books.