Anna Smetanenko, Movement, 2021 (Artist Website)
Oil on canvas
Courtesy of the artist
tis such a pretty jewel box my jewel box
pretty as a cup o sugar a lipstick stain on
a lover’s collar a black-capped chickadee
a pearl tis the oil o the fish to keep joints
juicy how embarrassing to be so very dry
though more embarrassing to die tis stem
more than tis petal tis tart cherry 4 aches
tis glucosamine & calcium & D & I must
pay the piper must tip the handler musty
must musk o me a kittle jagged indeed &
how predator turns prey turns praying on
one’s girlhood knees up sugar mountain
downcity downtown I was one way I was
& an occasional diazepam doctor asking
how I am tolerating and how am I how
tremble of the pelvic bone my father-in-
law says he can wear shoes now he can
put shoes on his feet his heel sores heal
I furry dazed and so far from twenty the
trick to most things is pretending one
can never be too rich or too thin mother
says and pain is inevitable say the yogis
but suffering is a choice like riding bare
back or eating an apple tis a choice must
I take this pill forever I asked a rash of
emeralds the bile and phlegm humorless
humors my sequin species grew a snout
weak of hip & heart inhibited & living