Our newest issue has hit the newsstands. Here, from its pages, we are pleased to present a poem by Ruth Madievsky.
KNOWING
How does the tongue know how do the fingers
know the leg the cunt
the cable running from eye to nose
this feeling like an empty illuminated office
where a stockbroker
is eating out his intern how does the mind know
which stories not to share at parties
in what organ does loneliness reside
loneliness a wool blanket
a seizure of light
the secret handshake by which the woman
who feels like a throw dart knows
what the man who feels like a safety razor knows
the knowing that one thing
suffocating another does not mean they touch
that eventually everything even loneliness atrophies
and still there are autopsies
that read like book reports there are lemons
that can’t grow seeds
what do the inessential organs know
and is it different from what the body
at the bottom of the lake knows
if everything was once ocean
why aren’t there shells beneath our feet
Originally from Moldova, Ruth Madievsky is a poet and fiction writer living in Los Angeles. Her debut poetry collection, Emergency Brake, was published by Tavern Books on Valentine’s Day 2016 as their 2015 Wrolstad Contemporary Poetry Series selection.