Unhinged | By This I Mean

Amy Orazio

Amy Orazio received her MFA in Creative Writing at Otis College of Art and Design. Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, Ruminate Magazine, Fathom Magazine, Bitterzoet, Gap Tooth, Pidgeonholes, and elsewhere. Her first collection of poetry, called Quench, debuted  Spring of 2018.

Unhinged

Although there is
the voice the night makes
the sound of one world
halving from another
the ladder remains
creamy light this place
to spread out
swollen on the delta
where did you go in the throats 

of the cedarwaxwing
where there is no west
to be fed
there is the shedding skin 

copper flakes at the water’s side 

to let the earth seep through 

fix your fingers to my mouth 

to be found again 

By This I Mean

A place where the sky 

holds its breath
and the snake extracts 

water from its prey 

arid womb 

as an altar
stones do right 

before seeing, asking 

help and what
are you thirsty for? 

Issue 6.1