HOW TO MEDITATE

drift your skull to lilacs
crest your brow with pineapple sage
dream rose into your nostrils
wake crying butterfly pea and cornflower
fill your lungs herbaceous
inhale parsley exhale mint
rinse your hair with rice water
let the dark of your insides deepen
plum and charcoal 
where light won’t reach
fade your bruises with buttercup
whiten your eyes with heartburst ring
in every bitten strawberry
stake your core with yew
so you leak starfruit and
cotton candy grape
dance turmeric into your hips
saffron your thighs
balm your foot soles
with aloe or clay

HOW TO MEDITATE pt. II

if after all this you’re still / dead white paper / close your eyes / shape the unraveling core / into a faceted diamond / accept liminality / watch what you make dissolve / in the space between / the particles / lies the path / behind the moon / beyond that / could be anything

Mykki Rios is a queer genderfluid Mexican-American poet, performer and multimedia artist. Raised in Chicago, and having lived many places across the globe, they now reside in Boulder, Colorado. Mykki has had works featured in issues of Welter, Meat For Tea: The Valley Review, Random Sample Review, Smoke and Mold Journal, Lupercalia Press’ Vulcanalia anthology, synkroniciti magazine, and more. They were also a finalist in Lupercalia Press’ 2022 Chapbook Series Contest. IG:abbisynth X(twitter): abbisynths