BROWSE Columns
✕
the screen with all these ghosts the sea anemones
make a kissing sound when they let go of my fingers
Pigeon. Seagull. Pigeon. Robin.
in a tidal pool, you threaten to jump
your smile constantly erases itself
hair wafts into my eyes, sticks to my lipstick
is that a paw or hoof on my face
I would ask you to make sense but you never listen
so hot you sit on the sand and pant, dog-like
Seagull. Grackle. Doorknob.
now, boiling water seeps through an orange pekoe
teabag
on the walls, squares of bright yellow
where photos of flowers and elephants hung
the hum of flies, shadows and burn marks in your bedroom
why are you constantly comparing everything
to animals, you ask
my psychiatrist, afraid, asks you to sit next to him in our room
wind as those green curtains skim the ceiling
Is that a paw or hoof on my face?
newspaper lines the cage
Christine E. Hamm (she/her), queer & disabled English Professor, social worker and student of ecopoetics, has a PhD in English, and lives in New Jersey. She recently won the Tenth Gate prize from Word Works for her manuscript, Gorilla. She has had work featured in North American Review, Nat Brut, Painted Bride Quarterly and many others. She has published six chapbooks, and several books -- hybrid texts as well as poetry.
