Poetry

Fig. 1 and Fig. 5


Fig. 1

 

 

 

Fig. 5¹

mouth closed sees the shape of pain

thumbnail blanched into a crescent moon

closely the grayness of things and their shapes

still inside the magnet

does it hurt does it light up matter flow

I would like to see my brain but I don’t need to know why

machine more credible than you or I who have only mouths

 

 

 

¹ The upside down title is taken from this article.

Alex Allen’s work is informed by her lived experience with chronic illness. She is interested in the narrative structures surrounding illness and disability. Her poetry dwells in the constant change of a relational world. You can read more of her work in Glass Buffalo.