Hello all!
I’m excited to introduce this new online segment, “From the Archives,” where we’ll share and celebrate some selected pieces from the PRISM archives. To start us off, I’ve selected Kyle Okeke’s “Gate of Wonder,” 2nd runner-up for the 2024 Pacific Spirit Poetry Prize contest, as chosen by Oliver Baez Bendorf. This poem is a cottonball fever dream, a textural striptease, a pastoral avalanche. I think it will resonate with many readers.
Enjoy!
Sophie Crocker, Contest Editor
Gate of Wonder by Kyle Okeke
The ribbon unties itself [ ] in the pews [ ] the torn red cushion [ ] exposing the fluff [ ] white hills rolling off [ ] white hills [ ] when I tell people [ ] I was exorcised, I always follow it [ ] with it wasn’t as bad as it sounds [ ] a light flicks on [ ] then off [ ] loose [ ] vanishing [ ] in a cave [ ] in the altitude [ ] scattering [ ] like bats [ ] into fingers [ ] like this [ ] I take a picture [ ] and another [ ] and another [ ] of my naked self [ ] captured [] some used to think [ ] that a picture [ ] steals your soul [ ] where is it going [ ] as I picture myself [ ] strangling a lamb [ ] dunking it over [ ] and over [ ] on [ ] and on [ ] in a lake [ ] the vision ends [ ] and I say white hills [ ] rolling into white hills [ ] in the water [ ] all I can think is water [ ] picture the flick of it [ ] let us pray [ ] on the lambs face [ ] a light flicks on [ ] picture this [ ] the escort said to me [ ] his worst experience was when a man [ ] had him against the wall [ ] as he aimed the gun, and shot an outline of holes [ ] into the wall behind him [] when my friend takes a picture of me [ ] he says act like I said something really funny [ ] and it always cracks me up [ ] then off [ ] the ribbon loses itself [ ] something escapes [ ] in the altitude [