The Body Speaking Upside Down
after Sarah B. Boyle
1.
There is a whisper
on either side of the hand,
turn wrist,
curl fingers as a wave
to hear it.
Body’s voice tells truth
when you throw your skin
through the air at a certain speed,
when it hits water.
Spit out language, always indecipherable.
Roll in it. Grind language into
every crevice of the body,
every mat of hair.
2.
Learn to pull the body
apart like language,
stitch it back up,
also like language.
Punctuate with nail gun
and welding torch.
There is no tool too crude for this.
3.
The hand gone
behind rib
always comes out
coated in light.
Light gets under
fingernails, sticks
between fingers
in pulled strings,
stains knuckle and cuticle.
It glitters
or it doesn’t.
It is a hand on fire
and you can
shove it down
your own throat.
after Sarah B. Boyle
1.
There is a whisper
on either side of the hand,
turn wrist,
curl fingers as a wave
to hear it.
Body’s voice tells truth
when you throw your skin
through the air at a certain speed,
when it hits water.
Spit out language, always indecipherable.
Roll in it. Grind language into
every crevice of the body,
every mat of hair.
2.
Learn to pull the body
apart like language,
stitch it back up,
also like language.
Punctuate with nail gun
and welding torch.
There is no tool too crude for this.
3.
The hand gone
behind rib
always comes out
coated in light.
Light gets under
fingernails, sticks
between fingers
in pulled strings,
stains knuckle and cuticle.
It glitters
or it doesn’t.
It is a hand on fire
and you can
shove it down
your own throat.