at Lake Lugano, Switzerland
You sit between each
wave rocking this stone world
like a cradle.
The peaks & troughs of me,
my life, delight to behold
all that you offer.
When you gently close a duck’s mouth
I feel all those who brought me here
rise from their depths.
The path behind me,
which did help me arrive,
beckons me to leave you, but not now.
Now, I mold my heart
with every melting ray of you. Anxious
Guard – distant beauties are just as here.
The heavens drift & patter,
the folds of my skin heave & sag,
but not without you.
Hope, the forlorn want, blooms
rich with tiny flowers
dancing and rustling alongside you.
I came empty & just
as wanting. I leave forgotten;
like everything I had to ask of you.
Sam Canney is a gay poet with degrees from UNC Chapel Hill. His writing examines queer-spiritual relationships with world, unleashing revolutions of the self. He is the recipient of the 2024 Brooklyn Poets Fellowship and has published works in Cloudscent Journal’s Best-of-the-Issue, The Lickety Split, Pinhole Poetry and Vocivia Magazine, among others.