gag

i’m ripping myself this new body a body floating above the animal below
the gender it assumes / is assumed. body, demoralize thyself. body, get
beautiful. you look for yourself in the world you never knew yrself in the
world. you never emptied.

on the street, something is happening. someone is bodied or un-. some
weather is waiting on itself: a stretch of confused sky. under the house
more books. more words. a self dimly lit. try to withhold the language of
construction. try to hold the language to its course.

try to hold the language.

another. an other. suddenly, the bodies of others. a self rattled into place.
the flash isn’t what burns, the eyes are. bare face bare lettering. bear a
thread in the skin. waiting on wires at center’s skew. no true center. no
number to identify. no turn of hand. no other timeline. every other
timeline. every instance of walking another direction. every weak stalk.
every weak stalk still standing. every no. ladies don’t talk about rape
swine do.

JJ Rowan is a poet and dancer living in Southern Oregon's Rogue Valley. Her work has recently appeared in Dream Pop Journal and with Nate Logan in the chapbook mcmxciv. (Shirt Pocket Press).