you cannot rest when there are enemies nearby
by Liam Burke
Cover Image by Michael Yull
you cannot rest when there are enemies nearby
by Liam Burke
Published September 3, 2021
low on health dim light
out of spells times like these
im always chased by skeletons
their bones wet with mana
blue flames in their hollows
each a dead friend
too slow to save
now cursed to follow me tireless
perhaps when i die i shall be tire-
less for now i brew more potions
wave away the teeth at my ankles my neck
clear what debris i can
stoke a sleepy fire
the good wolf hasnt been hungry
there are spaces i just cant reclaim
muscles grown fibrous songs that still hurt
we reknit but never fully heal
i lift my broken cup
drink and sit in the
sun i drink the sun and sit i
drink in the sitting sun the sun
sits and drinks me i sit in the drinking
sun the sun drinks and sits and sets
Liam Burke
Liam Burke (he/him/himbo) lives in Ottawa, Canada, on unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe land. He is the co-author of 'machine dreams' with natalie hanna (collusion books, 2021) and ‘Orbital Cultivation’ with Manahil Bandukwala (collusion books, forthcoming). His work has appeared in long con magazine, the Malahat Review, and battleaxe press. He has been the Assistant Director of the Sawdust Reading Series, co-host of Literary Landscapes on CKCU, and performs in the band Moratorium. He studies online radicalization at Carleton University where he is pursuing a master's degree in philosophy.
He is on Twitter, @liamjmburke.