Jenna Velez: Are You Ever Worried You’ll Come Out of This Alive?
Photo: Joanna C. Valente
how to sew yourself back together
i would lead the needle
like a snake charmer
let it writhe through
the alabaster fabric of my palm
red thread to mirror blue river
peel off the white upturned flesh
hardened over time and space
like dog-eared pages
in a book about witchcraft
spells for the sick of mind
now is the time to sing
a song of sacrifice
with every drop of human wine
you wonder if it was an accident
these are little charms
to whisper through worlds
the noose is my microphone
tying my soul to my body
framed for possession
the skeleton inside me
dances when i do
and groans inside its prison
my immortal shadow
it wears me like loose-fitting clothes
i wonder how it got there
how many fish bones
i accidentally swallowed
how many hearts i broke
how many souls i harvested
from a backfired spell
how many animals i ate
without mercy
their skin seasoned with
sage and rosemary
was not enough to rid me
of my baby rattle
and tomb fixture
my reflection is talking at 300mg
do you feel yourself / shaking and feverish / dissociating in the world / of a lover’s arms / the veins becoming nooses / are you hanging on / the edge of existence / swinging by your teeth / are you tasting / the earth’s skin / can you fall / through the black well / of starry dreams / can you hunger / for sexless starvings / in place of the bodies / you wear at night / are you ever worried / you’ll come out / of this alive?
Jenna Velez is an emerging queer Latinx poet from suburban Philadelphia. Her work has been featured in over a dozen literary journals. She currently runs "The Northern Bruja's Grimoire" column at Pussy Magic Press and "By Death, She Lives" blog at Rhythm & Bones Press. She tweets @northernbruja and can be found at jennavelez.weebly.com.
