Olivia McCannon
Map
On the day they find me
they’ll slit me along my seams
and peel me out of my skin.
They’ll dig out a pit for the rest:
white tendons and hashed flesh,
flopped innards full of stink.
What they want is my hide:
they want it beaten flat,
the eyes punched in like glass.
Thrashed and stretched and tanned
until pores show through the sand
and there’s five peninsulas to a hand.
Until nipples spread to ridges
and silver-pink scars are rivers
stitched across with bridges.
When it’s taut and dry
they’ll back it onto a grid,
trace on dotted lines,
circle round the ridges,
add crosses for the mines,
rename all the bridges.
they’ll slit me along my seams
and peel me out of my skin.
They’ll dig out a pit for the rest:
white tendons and hashed flesh,
flopped innards full of stink.
What they want is my hide:
they want it beaten flat,
the eyes punched in like glass.
Thrashed and stretched and tanned
until pores show through the sand
and there’s five peninsulas to a hand.
Until nipples spread to ridges
and silver-pink scars are rivers
stitched across with bridges.
When it’s taut and dry
they’ll back it onto a grid,
trace on dotted lines,
circle round the ridges,
add crosses for the mines,
rename all the bridges.
Page(s) 54
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