The Poetry Project

a recurring dream

jessica harvey

I am not timid
but I try in timid ways
a recurring dream
at the moment of speech
nothing
an obstruction
and then
a pulling pulling pulling out of my mouth

it must be attached to something
sometimes
it starts as an orange segment
sometimes
a wad of gum, lodged in my throat

that grows and lengthens the more I pull

I feel it moving through my body
feel a tug at the pit of my stomach
an anchor
it must be attached
I pull
and I pull
and I pull

but like a magician and her silks
there is no end
I will pull out all my organs
before I speak again

Work from Poetry, a Breaking Wave: Spilling, Plunging, Collapsing, Surging with Lara Mimosa Montes

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