Flight v24n1

Inventory

Sick today, suspended
in a saline sea. Whole eons

in which I have no memory
who I am. Then the task

is remembered from Future Self:
come, get here, find me.

So I’m walking,
scouring the beach

for any sign which direction
Future Self sailed off in.

Along the way, I am
scavenging what I need:

thread, to bundle
& parcel the soul;

scissors to snip;
& the soul—

has he sent the soul back?

(it is a crab, dainty & afraid)
The soul is dainty, afraid.

AJ White

AJ White is a poet and educator from north Georgia. AJ’s debut poetry collection, Blue Loop, was selected for the 2024 National Poetry Series by Chelsea Dingman to be published by University of Georgia Press in September 2025. AJ’s poems have recently been published in The Account, Best New Poets, Overheard, West Trade Review, and elsewhere. AJ lives and teaches creative writing in New York.