We Start with the Skin

Thursday Poem (Audio)

We Start with the Skin

We see first, think
How obvious this is. Then,
how much it gives away

How it becomes terrain, shaping as we move
maps of lines
coded in creases and scars

How it reveals
the ridges of twisting
bones veering off, and

There is a blossoming of red mouths
across my stomach
mumbling snide remarks
that make me squirm in my clothes
all day

There is a fever that comes and goes all night
even my forearms sweat
and I try to make friends with it

these growing pains
this shutting down

what freedoms it will bring
what dreams will come
what dreams will be overcome

secrets etched on a flake of dandruff

As a consequence of the story-
telling, drama happens

everything falls apart
but not away:

I am a raven’s nest
of shiny odds and ends

buttons that close nothing
attach no intentions, make no mistake

I am a loose gathering
of loose talents

in a tackle box in my granddaughter’s crafts room
and she will piece something together

a framework
a new skin to hold it all together

for a new, little while from her perspective
of what was my body in the world

(From The Elephants Have Been Singing All Along, Wigestrand forlag 2017)

Thank you for taking the time to read/listen to this Thursday’s poem. It means the world to me.
I hope you have a great week!

Warmly,

Ren Powell’s Acts of a Recovering Drama Queen is a LitLetter¹ about
Writing against Melodrama by Engaging with the Natural World
❧ Beetles & Bombs | Poetry & Plays ❧ Published three times a week:
Sunday Shares, Tuesday’s Process Journal Essays, and Thursday’s Poem.

(NB: Thursday’s Poem will rarely be related to my WIP or Process Journal.)

Give some love. It only takes a little ❤️.

1. A term coined by Tara Penry to describe this kinds of substack missives that are not “newsletters”.