Jill Khoury

[ i am a virus ]

 
with lipstick and beige teeth
think dirty napkin
            think
slow seethe
            you should
probably move a few seats
away                  if you
handle me roughly
            (as you
are wont to do)
            I split
in two and two
            and two
—an amber jelly
            seeps
into your palm
            prom-
ising no    limit of        fuss
and fracture
            your
nerves begin
            to sinter
look:  you have
            some
blisters—          where did
those
            come from
you will
            go home
alone and        ask      (and
ask)
                          what happened
              here

[ i cleave to my own blood / copper well that keeps giving / & giving ]





--
Jill Khoury is interested in the intersection of poetry, visual art, gender, and disability. She holds an MFA from The Ohio State University and edits Rogue Agent, a journal of embodied poetry and art. She has written two chapbooks--Borrowed Bodies (Pudding House, 2009) and Chance Operations (Paper Nautilus, 2016). Her debut full-length collection, Suites for the Modern Dancer, was released in 2016 from Sundress Publications.