Notes on an Unsanctioned Interaction



i whisper a desert, a resonance,
a mutual destination
we are too wary to call so.

this covenant,
this countdown,
this exclusivity without a name.

if we cradle without ceasing,
are we not then encircled
by earth's carnation breath?

do we not smolder
like vesuvian photographs,
etching beads of light

upon tarpaulin skies
and the sensory core
of snowprint and headlight?




Karissa Morton is an English/Writing student at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she is a writing tutor, literary journal editor, and president of her university’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta. She enjoys having these things to whittle away her time while anxiously awaiting next winter, when she can start applying to MFA programs.