Caleb Nichols

EDGING

Oh to be
this ping
this zap
this whir
this whelm
this cresting
brine this
bubbling
boil this blink
this brink this
brisk September
to be the walker
on the shore
in the trough
of gilded light
opening over
this canny spot
thinking this
boy dreaming that
boy, this boy
and that other, oh
to be me thinking
boys and dreaming
lovers down the
beach of a September
under cover
of the gathering
gloam the
ravelling dusk
YUS
to be me
dusking
gently
at its edges.

Caleb Nichols (he/they) is a writer and musician from California, occupying Tilhini, the Place of the Full Moon, the unceded territory of the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini tribe. His poetry has been featured in Redivider, 14 Poems, and Taco Bell Quarterly, among other publications and his chapbook “Teems///\\\Recedes'' which Chen Chen called “a gorgeous abundance” is out from Kelp Books. Caleb’s debut solo album Ramon, a queer rock opera based on the Beatles song “Mean Mr. Mustard,” is out on Kill Rock Stars, and he is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at Bangor University in Wales. Caleb also owns and operates the SLO Book Bike, a queer-owned, bike-powered, pop-up bookshop in San Luis Obispo. Caleb can be found on Twitter and Instagram @seanickels.