Lest we get caught dancing around the kitchen at night.

It’s just a slip of the knife.
Barely a glide.
No pressure, little resistance.
We consider the weight of the blade
less than the edge of it. Tapering down
to air. So, we let the air in.
Breath and breeze. The great blue
machine, working in its syncopation.
Once we were impressed
by the jazz of it. The unexpected
rhythmic alterations. This is what
life’s all about. Minus the sedation.
The flat-out posture of it. Each doing
their part to forget
the persistent drop in temperature.
Or that weather exists outside.

Alexandra Pasian is the author of the chapbooks Where we live (Ghost City Press, 2020)!! and Work until you find resistance (Junction Books, 2019). Among other journals, her work has appeared in Arc, Cosmonauts Avenue, CV2, Electronic Encyclopedia of Experimental Literature, and The Fiddlehead.