An Exploited Body

 

You claim it’s a dwelling grasp. I still fall

out of a tree—naked & thick,

 

hauling myself to beat

exposure. I fill myself in

 

in desperate clusters. Unable

to find a deep hole for my body,

 

I turn over the earth & rip the ocean

floor—give a final blow

 

to deprivation, hunt dead & run large

in the streets. I lurk

 

in hives, collect & attach you

like an eyeball—a blind silence.

 

I search for bony bundles

& drain my body—an empty constant.

 

 

The Day of My Wedding

 

I stayed inside because of the rain.

From behind the bay window

I watched a funeral & a family

grieve.

 

I watched a wild horse

run away from the field—

gaining freedom to ground

itself.

 

The grass webbed with dew

for the rest of its days.

Sewers overflowed

& cars stopped passing

through.

 

For the rest of my days

I watched a child

fall backwards at the bottom

of the staircase, just out of my

reach.

 

 

Annie Elizabeth

Annie Cigic is a second-year student in the Rhetoric and Writing Studies PhD program at Bowling Green State University. Her research interests include critical pedagogy, community-based learning, advocacy writing, and student agency in writing assessment. She received her MFA in Poetry from BGSU. Her poem “Afterlife of a Dumped Body” is nominated for a 2021 Pushcart Prize by Driftwood Press.

Listed at Duotrope
Listed with Poets & Writers
CLMP Member
List with Art Deadline
Follow us on MagCloud