Robin Turner

My Name Soft-Opens

like morning, an exhalation,
a sigh—a ruse. At its center

babble, bubble, baby, blackbird,
broken, dead of night.

There is an i in me clipped
& penultimate, eclipsed,

lower case, laconic. See how
i come just after b. I burn

in & in
& in.

*

Water

Make of me an emptiness,
a morning clear and present,

night’s terror muted,
its details obscure.

Carve me. Crush me. Shadow-
shift me. Make me

a figure shining.