preliminary versions
something kind
of kinky
about the next
draft. the mark. the coming
scratch.
something
heretical in the lay
of each letter.
pencil all raised
and crossed.
ready. fat circles
clean
thin. a
hinge. wry.
a whipped slant.
skin in tapped vows.
rhymed whines. verbs
hymned. thighs crimped.
length
set. a cock break
of each
word. as if win is ready
to wax and wet
the next black
x. the shiny
wrinkled
curve all scribbled
over. tomorrow. next
told. next tine. a debt
unquestioned,
a find send
in deep,
of hide. the next
now. an erase. a rub.
a down.
await. it
soon to be
ready.
wanting
wise.
Nikia Chaney is a poet from the Inland Empire of California. She is author of two books of poetry, Sis Fuss (2012, Orange Monkey Publishing) and ladies, please (2012, Dancing Girl Press). Nikia’s poetry has been published in Iowa Review, Portland Review, Saranac Review, 491, Pearl, Sugar House Review, Welter, Blackberry Magazine, and Badlands. She is founding editor of shufpoetry, an online journal for experimental poetry, and founding editor of Jamii Publishing, a publishing imprint dedicated to fostering community among poets and writers. She has won grants from the Barbara Demings Fund for Women, Poets & Writers, and Cave Canem. She teaches at San Bernardino Valley College.