A. J. Frantz
Archipelago
It occurs to me sometimes– often on those nights when you are draped in lucid moonlight beside
me– that I will never know anyone as intimately as I want to. Even in the hours
spent watching your ribs shudder with each breath, tracing each detour on your skin, and studying the valleys of
your brittle hair. I draw you closer to me, snug between my arms
and these sweat-bathed sheets, but we can only be so close. I try to lose myself in the crooks of your limbs, but no matter how
hard I try, I can always find myself again.
Men might be islands,
just strung together like beads–
archipelago.
Bio
A.J. Frantz is from Detroit and currently studies urban planning at Oberlin College. Her work has appeared in Prime Number Magazine, ellipsis, Inlandia, Penumbra, and elsewhere.