ONE OF MILLIONS
(a poem in 3 parts)
1.
When wet
can maim
insecticide
paper covers rock
Little taupe dryads
are hammering
a divide
between soil
and mildew lung
We frown
the muscular
system
parting
continents
that smite
all signs
of tucked gingham
Some days
pulling
our own teeth
from molasses
We molt
our leaves
along
with the cane
Slumberous
in movement
and in heed
2.
We are underneath
the Hamadan rug
spilling out
in metabolic waste
Their kerchiefs
tossed over
our faces
eclipsing
mauve-mouth
now
bound by
slippery elm
Either
anchored
in disbelief
or purposeful
abandon
An outsource
of Machiavellian
indifference
Shrinking
our gospel
truths
we are dubbed
rancorous mutts
heiresses
to a kinetic
grief
and catching
In
unclean pigment
we extend
toward
maternal body
gaunt
yet stubborn
in
our biological feeding
yolk for embryo
Ripe
goose-feathers
detain
our curled spines
until
transoceanic
As the river
runs away
from us
and our shouts
cripple
3.
Without
the door frame
of love
Pomegranate
seepage
just
gushing
messy
Devotion
we are told
is a chain gang
within microcosm
a sworn blow
to bastardization
and perfumed
mandarin
Coital
gluttonous
a fibrous backdrop
therein
kodachrome dyes
We need
to hear
the gondolas
splashing
toward us
in copper
interface
Jessie Askinazi is an interdisciplinary creative and communications manager. She has worked in photography, performance art, journalism, poetry, film, design and the contemporary art world. Jessie studied at the Atlantic Theater Company’s performing arts conservatory in New York City. She is a contributor for Purple Fashion Magazine, where she has documented cultural events for several years. Jessie also dedicates her life to social justice and activism, currently working with the East Los Angeles Women’s Center- a crisis center for women who have experienced sexual or domestic violence. Most recently, she collaborated with Pussy Riot to make a video about threats to the Violence Against Women Act. Her upcoming poetry chapbook Ear Tagging will be published through Shirt Pocket Press, along with a short film she made about the collection.
