Poetry: poem in which my whole hand fits in my mouth by m mick powell
The motion of m mick powell’s “poem in which my whole hand fits in my mouth” zooms and widens as if from a telescope: the fully focused hand, knuckled and scented, then the jaw, the braids, the dancing and fluorescent dead—the stellar, abundant gold. This is a poem.
poem in which my whole hand fits in my mouth
& i take it in like a wonder / this velvet thing / this knuckled crystal / this supernova of viole(n)t sensation / a soft descent into the scent of tobacco oud / & somewhere / yes / i am still a girl / with an easy jaw / full feasted / on back-handed compliments / & other people’s clouded chakras / & someone threads beads at the end of my braids / & at the basement party / the beads make a ballad with the bass / & i am dancing with the dead / on the dance floor / the phantoms of this basement party / illuminate it into a bardo / & bleed florescent all around me / they paint the surrounding space / with their electric homicide / yes / the fist still a statue between my teeth / & this is not part of the end / but when Echo fell in love with Narcissus / they both stood in the woods & called out / “we must come together” / & even they knew / in their ancient & implied sensuality / that two bodies bursting / into one another at once / is called a stellar collision / & we know now / that a stellar collision gave us gold / & so i turn to the phantoms / & so i say to the phantoms / that i am not interested in anything / that doesn’t produce gold / & in this basement / i am plasma wet & only emerging / & they marvel at it— / the miraculous unpretty / the gargantuan mouth
m mick powell
m mick powell is a queer black femme feminist, poet, and professor. Her poems and essays have been published or are forthcoming in Winter Tangerine, The Feminist Wire, Apogee Journal, Nat. Brut, and others. Mick's chapbook "chronicle the body" won Yemassee Journal's second annual chapbook contest and was released in March 2019. She enjoys talking about beauty, bodies, Beyonce, and baked goods.
