Mechanimism
crankrankrankrankrank
around the silk mill runs
a god,
stark naked, canines looming—
whether we weave the material
or buy it
we produce, consume, expend—
no—
there’s something deeper:
what’s vanished,
what was made to vanish—
we stopped walking naked, yes?
put on the animal’s skin
& sang, danced, worshipped its severed head,
the material woven,
the roots of the downy hair
reeking
with the breath of what’s buried—
crankrankrankrankrank
around the silk mill
on four legs,
furry, sticky, horny-nosed,
it gobbles up
gulp!
the mill women
who spit the thread—
get out of here!
About Rina Kikuchi
Rina Kikuchi is an Associate Professor at Shiga University, Japan. She has an MA in comparative literature from the University of Warwick and a PhD in contemporary Irish poetry from Chiba University, for which she conducted a year of research at Trinity College, Dublin. She is a visiting fellow at ANU and the University of Canberra, and is currently working with Canberra-based poets on an anthology of translations of poetry by contemporary Japanese women.
Further reading:
About Jen Crawford
Jen Crawford grew up in New Zealand and the Philippines. She holds a PhD from the University of Wollongong and recently moved back to Australia from Singapore to teach at the University of Canberra. Her poetry collections include
Napoleon Swings (Soapbox Press),
Bad Appendix (Titus Books) and
Admissions (Five Islands Press). A new chapbook,
Lichen Loves Stone, is forthcoming from Tinfish Press.
Further reading:
