The poems: Episode six
Cancer mercury
Published in Trash to treasure literary
The academy recognises me & my wet claws, the bleached barnacles lined up, coiling like a set of octopus eggs, spinning at the top like milky oil /
*
at the threshold, what is this? doom or dread? Now,
let's refocus— the academy invites me over to discuss
a Pulitzer finalist, I would be the youngest girl there,
I'd seep into a chair's arms like an orphaned crow,
they'd recognise me & my wet claws,
*
the bleached barnacles lining up— what I gleam from it is that I will / never have the capacity to love my mother & indeed I agree, I won't— hot pink as feathers & the glittering skin of blueberries, frilly frothing mouths white as oil,
*
& what I gleam from it is I am / the threshold,
lined up for the octopus hatching, & the
fear of forgetting toiletries is tremendous.
Desire & quiet moon
Published in Alocasia
The crush is fleshless & so it peeled
me, kicked up derma rubble released
into orbit, each face
is its own planet on their own
accord, in his face is petal republic
good as desire: peony, dahlia, oblivious
rose, chrysanthemum. My stomach
strums a pitiful ballad, my struggle
oval shaped, & I am beavertail, I lose
you for good as desire— love
is impossible to be in trouble
with, sit down if your head's on fire.
We need a coquette Unabomber
Published in Don't submit
Suicidal deer
next 5 miles,
stop for a
pedestrian
who attended
school to be
a factory
worker & now
knows too
much *cough*
*cough* it out—
your hand
under their
two-tone
chiffon hoof,
the
industrial
revolution &
its consequences
have been a
disaster for
the earthen
race. We
launder roadside
signs & bite
into them in
a Norwegian
owned motel
like sauce-starved
scrambled
eggs in a navy
blue bowl.
The world
Published in Verdant journal
Now the Earth with many flowers puts on her spring embroidery — Sappho
A substance pressed onto this fresh linguistic site—
how do I explain myself, into place, find answers
the lady at the embassy will be delighted to
hear. When I emigrate that is called a recount,
a renewed contact, a deleted number &
name. When I moved schools I stood a cylindershrew,
slippery, at the old school I had one friend at a time—
now define friend, define contact. The next city
has custody of me, I don't talk to mum anymore,
I send money despite / despite. My first
apartment is stacked with recumbent propulsion—
an Akkadian precursor, instinct, daughters &
daughters ago there was a stone tablet where I stand,
packed with a letter of awe & nerve; her mother
complained of never seeing her anymore.
— Dorow