Poetry |

“From the Body”

From the Body

 

we longed for wet darkness     the aftermath

of burial and that fractioning of flesh

far in the circular currents of the earth

our selves dispersed     abased to be remade

by the mandible blades of beetles

by the muscular lips of earthworms

by the millions of myriad mouthparts

diffusing our bodies with the deep

with bacterial lines to break down ties

our enzymes catalyzed     our proteins cleaved

to peptides leaving us by millipede

or through fine strands of fungal mycelium

reaching us as even our DNA dissolves

our helices unstructure     eased to pieces

as life’s held breath finally releases

in the exhalation of a subterranean star

those dark flares of phosphorus and carbon

the wide waves of nitrates radiating

through eluvial layers     through horizons

of subsoil and stratum in staggering blasts

of a slow motion nova     our molecules

unbroken     our blood still flowing     still flooding

to the hairy tributaries of straining roots

our minerals sieved through membranes of cells

our waters swept up stems of stiff lignin

as we transpire to rise     to reach leaves and lift

off as streams of vapour for thermal updrafts

our fragments scattered     only to be woven

back into fabric     into growth running on

into that endless longing of the body

Contributor
Peter O'Donovan

Peter O’Donovan is a scientist and writer living in Seattle. Originally from the Canadian prairies, he completed his doctorate studying computer science and graphic design from the University of Toronto. He received the Guy Owen Prize from Southern Poetry Review, and his work has appeared in Atlanta Review, The Fiddlehead, The Malahat Review, New Ohio Review, and elsewhere.

Posted in Poetry

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