This poem is published as part of the Amplifying Disabled Voices special section, selected by editors Christopher Heuer, Marlena Chertock, and Gregory Luce.
 

Duloxetine

i wake and step toward the dreadtime /
crouched in casualty posture / it’s hard

to straighten / these days / always con-
striction / in the fascia lattice / in class

/ silk filaments fall on my face / i am
told to leave them there / not real /

stop picking at yourself / as if my skin
is a crawling / to be solved only with

patience / if only i could work my will
harder / in therapy / i empty in the telling

/ then the injury / resaturates me with stories /
again / like the glutted flea / no end
 

Jill Khoury (she/her) is a disabled poet and a Western Pennsylvania Writing Project fellow. She lives with OCD, fibromyalgia, PTSD, and congenital blindness. She has taught poetry in high school, university, and enrichment settings. She holds an MFA from The Ohio State University and edits Rogue Agent, a journal of embodied poetry and art. Her poems have appeared in numerous venues, including Copper Nickel, Bone Bouquet, Dream Pop, CALYX, and The Poetry Foundation’s Poem-A-Day. Winner of the Gatewood Prize, her second full-length collection earthwork is available from Switchback Books. Connect with her at jillkhoury.com.

Featured image in this post is, “Lacework at the exhibition PIKANT” by Sally V, licensed creative commons via Wikimedia Commons.