2 July 2009 | Vol. 9, No. 2
The next time you survey your land, your land will accommodate your skull
Take note and heed. My drab elastic shackle worried the bone
to dart. Poison tipped present day cervix fasting, preparatory.
Ugly Park looms, and I file its gates. Specific access: trees
denied, fur denied, zing and whoosh denied, all water denied.
Dark denied, particle-free oxygens denied, nutrients denied.
Girls, boys, tom-toms, flowers, spoons, ink, porcelain, fruit,
tone, flint, exploration, and tonic fetal compass denied.
I have a plot of land for you.
I have it trimmed edge and furnished.
Each blade measured, each puncture
depth predicted, never
more than necessary. Wake you, each minor second, and witness
the pestilent staccato of a million minor infractions loosed.
Notes on this piece:
You are reading the alternative presentation of this poem; you can view it in its intended format—in a fixed font—here.
About the author:
Danielle Pafunda is author of My Zorba (Bloof Books 2008), Pretty Young Thing (Soft Skull Press 2005), and the forthcoming Iatrogenic: Their Testimonies (Noemi Press 2009). She curates poetics forums at Delirious Hem, and is an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming. More can be found at her blog.
For further reading:
See the complete list of work by Danielle Pafunda at 42opus. Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 9, No. 2, where "The next time you survey your land, your land will accommodate your skull" ran on July 2, 2009. List other work with these same labels: poetry.
