Maxwell Bicking, Ursinus College

if i could feel the touch of your
skin, layers of
phospholipid phosphorescence sending
scents
(senses split like infinitives)
layers like pages, i could
read and parse thru
the depths into the valleys
of your citric
acid and sugar.

you are cold, untouched
untampered by herds of hungry
who gnash their teeth
(piano keys
hit air from broken strings)

ten times today i searched the wooden crates
where you sit,
curving dermis
like Schrödinger—you are not now
what you once were;
you are hard.

you are soft
like a matrix of silicon
valleys and ridges
(where you grew, the Supermarket in California
sticks you in aisles of cells)

and when i peel you back,
enter into your skin with every extremity
i
feel you dripping,
feel your atoms in mine
uncovering electromagnetic semicolons
thru navel and spine
you
send energy, inspiration
into the dominoes of my neurons
semicircling round
deep into my mouth
as i yell more,
into the fragmented pieces of
ecstasy that once held you together.

Maxwell Bicking was born in Southeastern Pennsylvania in 1994. He is currently a junior at Ursinus College, where he studies mathematics and creative writing. His work focuses on contrasts between art and science; peace and violence; and darkness and light. He feels that there are no true distinctions between creativity in art and creativity in mathematics and the sciences, and his work tries to break down the perceived differences between them. After graduating from Ursinus, Maxwell wishes to pursue a service fellowship and obtain a teaching certification.