by Jill Khoury
cape of dew on my neck /
flames in the turquoise
chakra / inner unseaming /
no one knows i am awake
right now / the moaning
also a trigger / painting
with bird in snow hangs
crooked / portrait of my long
dark ago / when the tale
wrote the teller //
anonymous dm: get those
tweezers / & apply some
cryptography / swipe for toys
and pictures of headstones /
the owl’s amber eyes turned
glaucous / torn postcard of bou-
gainvillea from las palomas =
stub from the crypt housed in me / a
picture of a flower is not a flower
but an annotated podcast /
mostly white noise / & whispers
of linen rubbing itself / not voices
not out loud //
Jill Khoury (she/her) is a queer, disabled poet and a Western Pennsylvania Writing Project fellow. She has taught poetry in high school, university, and enrichment settings. She holds an MFA from The Ohio State University and edits Rogue Agent, a journal of embodied poetry and art. Her poems have appeared in numerous venues, including Copper Nickel, Bone Bouquet, Dream Pop, CALYX, and The Poetry Foundation’s Poem-A-Day. Winner of the Gatewood Prize, her second full-length collection earthwork is available from Switchback Books. Connect with her at jillkhoury.com.
January House Literary Journal 
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