These poems are published as part of the Amplifying Disabled Voices special section, selected by editors Christopher Heuer, Marlena Chertock, and Gregory Luce.
The Genuine Article
What keeps me around?
You know me
even the snarls and tangles
you don’t
want to feel
but can’t comb out of me
Unlike some childhood totem
something like a grown woman
even with my unalterable aversions
towards vacuums
acrylic sweaters
networking
Non-monogamy
something like a real woman
spiked with fears
heavy as gasoline
in a Molotov cocktail
but that’s not what makes
me real to you
like an adrenaline rush
you’ve unlocked something
stumbled into
a penchant for elation
that only you knew was hiding
Ghrelin
reward the breath for it is fleeting
reward the lip and its hunger
the body’s diplomats
the body is an absurdity
that demands tribute
breath, hunger and thirst
mafia consigliere
Juliana “Jules” Schifferes is a poet from the Washington, DC area. She was the winner of the inaugural Luce Prize, awarded by Day Eight to an early-career poet of promise. She has published in The Mid-Atlantic Review (formerly Bourgeon), Wishbone Words, Poetry X Hunger and Washington Writers’ Publishing House. She works at a civil society organization, fighting the good fight, when she’s not writing. In her free time, you’ll find her curled up with poetry and a cat. She identifies as autistic.
Featured image in this post is, “Training bijstandseenheid 12” By Ministerie van Defensie, licensed creative commons via Wikimedia Commons.
