Among the Infinite Dawns

Upon hearing Recamán’s sequence, played

Effortlessly by the algorithm of the Online

Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences,

In the appropriate acoustic grand piano

Style, songs of French started filling my mind—

After four years, forty-two weeks per year,

Five days per week, of humming Spanish; still I

Know not a nattilla’s taste, or how dancing

The Danzón with white ginger feels; yet Mama

Proclaims tending to the roots leads to a fertile

Land of vibrant roses and carnations.

Yet I heard if one falls through space, they burn…

Upon witnessing a multitude of once

Ripened bodies secreting and contorting

To the primordial cadence of drums to become

A sensation-seeking mass of body parts,

Which holds no value amongst other artists,

Gold chains started wrapping around my neck,

Allowing me to teeter between menace

And rarity—and resemble the common dill—

In hopes of finding several potential

Paramours, willing to incessantly embrace

This black-watered trunk, already ablaze.

Appearing as some small, fiery comet…

Upon voicing the lost hymn found among

The infinite dawns and wind-fallen photons,

Much past the point where poetry can serve—

Same hymn Muhammed tamed Al-Buraq with,

Same hymn that tempted the Angels to sin—

I started to live my life as some Freeman

Proclaiming god resides in all that is seen,

Season after season, on each network,

Ensuring these far-flung branches remain

Stretching to the heavens long after the leaves

Land where the wildflowers fall.

Screaming in agony as they spiral out…

Upon occupying the madmen’s eyes

With a haze of darkness, while yearning

For when the sky was always visible,

I accepted that this universe would not care

If—or rather when—a wildfire engulfs

My ligneous form, which seems like a flicker

Blowing in the sun.

Before one disappears forever.

Taylor Rivers is currently a freshman in the USC School of Dramatic Arts. As a native-born Californian, Taylor spent most of his life growing up in Vallejo, CA, which is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also has a mixed ethnic background that often influences his art in subtle ways. In regards to his poetry, he is inspired by the works of Allen Ginsberg, Emily Dickinson, and Rudy Francisco among others. Taylor yearns to become a writer and actor upon graduating.