Poetry by Mykki Rios

thank you to the small
the dusting of sugar i stir into my tea so i can sleep at night
the sprinkling of rock salt over fish and salad and the extra
palmful i fling over my shoulder into the sink
that keeps the ghouls from coming up the drain pipe
thank you flecks of mica and quartz
my highlight imitates in chemical flakes
i anoint my cheekbones and temples
with glittering moth scales
before i go out so my bones are ready to cut
the wind
thank you ice crystals that bind the clouds
fall as mists and raindrops absolve me
of the unclean memories i feel
down in my pores
thank you platinum and silver and gold
in flexible chains of molecules
under every lit up screen
form a cycle between me and mine
a halo of earth mirrored in signals through the sky
thank you notes from the cello and flute
cry mournful songs of autumn
sing how migration is home
the journey i am on is never lonely
how small i am fits perfectly
in the open hand of my mind’s eye
thank you lotus flower’s worth of tiny selves
thank each chrysanthemum for granting me some time

Mykki Rios is a queer genderfluid Mexican-American poet, performer and multimedia artist. Raised in Chicago, and having lived many places across the globe, they strive to achieve clear, authentic communication and self-expression that strikes a chord with the human condition. Mykki has had work published in issues of The Minison Project, Smoke and Mold, story twigs, and Welter, as well as Lupercalia Press’ Vulcanalia anthology.

Photo by Dan Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash