much is to be desired

By Jayla Jones

much is to be desired

by third year Jordyn Faucette

a picture of southern gentility

your hair holds the shape of a can or an iron

the shape of our mouth and knees unchanged 

sounds of careless men and careful women

the taste of submission burns my tongue

bright red and smelling of copper

the 2nd amendment overtakes CRA of 1964

precedent and history be damned

much is left to be desired

a picture of southern gentility

the hills roll to the sound of bluegrass

the dogs are rumbling under antiquity’s sky

my toes are childhood friends with the red clay

my tongue dips, languid and loving, 

into our shared pot of honey

generations of love and struggle and wisdom

cling to my mother’s lips

much is desirable