i
We begin with a desire to devour.
I am a citizen of want, my body
a country of bruises from your teeth.I am happy to pay in sweetness
as long as it is you who takes
my lips. Once, upon comingto a clearing, we hurriedly shed
our clothes, feral things whose
vocabulary knows no waiting.I am happy to be here before you,
palms up, wanting and being wanted.
Once more, and once again.
iiSomeone once took me to bed
and wanted to fuck in the dark.
I was a body and yet not a body.Someone mistook me for not being
me when they read my words but forget
my name. Where do I hide my shame?I was a body and almost somebody.
We damn well know: to be brown is
to always be guilty of being brown.
iiiWho wouldn’t want this,
hands around my throat,
hands that cup my breasts,
hands that grip my hips.Let me whisper confessions
to the shadows on your skin:
When I see your open mouthI hear the selfsame howl from
deep in my womb: I am your
leviathan among the woods.
ivThis is what it means to shiver
beneath someone’s gaze,
your possession teaching me
the length of my spine.Who wouldn’t want you,
telling me you’re home
and safe from standing
before an invisible firing line.In the subway, at the pharmacy,
at the grocery, in the park:
when have we ever known
what it means to be apart.No one can stop me
from holding your hand,
not even the demons that
corrupt their heart.
vWould that there be a menagerie
inside your warm body for every
living thing that you might have been:the tenderness of a butterfly, perhaps,
or the startling softness of a bird.
A sweet longan.
viHow do you conjure
an ever after. I wish
nothing more than
to follow where this leads.Our bodies uncurl from the core
and everything hurtswhile we stand in line at the bank,
or when we walk across the street
to get to our door.When they call you names
or when they call mine,
I will always want you
whispering in my ear:
Why not right here.
viiOh, husk that houses who I am!
Almond eyes, thick thighs,and every ember that has
settled on my dark skin.I want your wildness—
and damn the rest of them.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones