after Laura Christensen
i formed a body of clay around
a clot of dried blood !10! !25! i formed
a body of dirt & water !25! i formed
a body of water around red earth &
cracked clay i formed a body polluted
by want most of it not mine i formed
a body purified by name washed
in the white water of my grandfather’s blind
left eye washed with my grandmother’s
feet in ablution i formed a body to be left
behind to be unzipped & discarded to return
to perfumed aunts arranged in jagged
sleep waking only to tie systems of jasmine
into my torn hair i formed a body suspended
in utterance named & undone & named
again girl !10! !5! lacuna specter throat
throat !5![say it] !5! bloodstain !10!!5! sheet [name it]
i formed a body darkened by blood the moon
tugging its irons from my shameful parts i formed
a body & swam !5! inelegant laps in rising water
temperate as the first womb & always ships
darkening the banks like blood !5! & always
water dividing the world !5! god’s country
clotting out between my legs like silk
