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Nathan Kemp

Where do I come in the order / of the living? Am I good / or am I evil?


[frightening but not dangerous]

at the bottom           of this pool
someone is making a mess
with pink spray paint &
don't they know         spray paint
         is just paint
         when underwater?

deep diving           some kind
       of breathing expedition
& let's go         evangelize
         some random thought.
speaking a bunch        of Z sounds
         so we sound convincing
-ly French,           le son.

the important lessons
       from a major harassment
like lovely people looking
down           at their phones.
anything that is frightening
          but not dangerous.

sorry it looks like this
but I hope to           come across
          your physical embodiment
                  rather soon.

I am Not Doomed to Live

I am inside        an other & then
outside, though        I am still
inside a box        that is not a box.

My questions for an incubator
start with        a woman &
end        with a woman's heart.

The weight        of my thin shell
is lighter        than the ancient
rhythm used        to create it.

Where do I come in the order
of the living?        Am I good
or am I evil?        I am not

doomed to live        in a world
composed        of twigs & bits of paper.


Nathan Kemp lives in Akron, Ohio. His work appears or is forthcoming in cream city review, ILK Journal, inter|rupture, and Puerto del Sol, among others. He's an associate editor for Whiskey Island and is a poetry editor for Barn Owl Review. He wrangles social media for H_NGM_N.