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NAZAR
nazar is the pearl of the look
not the look, or the eye (pearl)
the blue sac, the white drop floating in the sky-
blue drop, and the black pearl (look)
black is the color of love, says my mother-in-law
blue, the color of my father’s eyes
white, the silence upon which I have been spread
the look is the gaze, that’s all
the pearl, little black egg
we press between our palms
the pearl is the circle, the look the convex mirror
in which I regard my cartoon nose, half-moon hand
into which I breathe blue life
into my white hands
and the pearl, black, passing
from my tongue to my tongue
me, patient on the table, breathing slowly
opening my eyes to take in the look
the pearl, beating from my throat
waking to dream again
Joseph Boyle lives in Sacramento, California, with his partner and a pair of tiny dogs. He works as a counselor and spends his free time metabolizing sugars and admiring the way wind moves through trees. He has been published in The Stony Thursday Book and The Ekphrastic Review, among other outlets.
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