Sy Hoahwah

The Approximate Wingspan of My Favorite Cancer

It was in the pines
when it sank its one fang
into my favorite Egyptian Isis tattoo on my forearm.
Then cancer used the rest of my body
to spread its wings.

There are a few things I can say 
about pine trees.
During winter they don’t look
like Death’s capillary system.

During summer, they carry echoes
of a hummingbird filled with light.
The soft and hard bugs pour out
of the nights. 

It’s all about feeding, 
growth, 
and wingspan.
Year-round,
I can climb to the top of pine trees
and hail down
a UFO,
or the moon with my own shovel.

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Sy Hoahwah is Comanche/Southern Arapaho, and received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Arkansas. He has published two collections of his work: Ancestral Demon of a Grieving Bride (New Mexico, 2021) and Velroy and the Madischie Mafia (West End Press, 2009). In 2013, Sy was a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship.