chimera pantoum

by Elena Jackendoff

before she spills out whole and not
from her mother she’s already made of pain
she’s left her cells on softened bone inside her mother
is nothing just for you and you alone

from her mother she’s already made of pain
the protein slapped inside thin elastic pink tracts
is nothing just for you and you alone
in every organ cancerous her fetal cells wait

the protein slapped inside thin elastic pink tracts
a forgotten closet in her skin tucked into flesh
in every organ cancerous her fetal cells wait
her skin behind her breast scratched ribs

a forgotten closet in her skin tucked into flesh
she’s left her cells on softened bone inside her mother
her skin behind her breast scratched ribs
before she spills out whole and not

Elena Jackendoff graduated from Oberlin College, where she studied creative writing and politics. You can find her work in Winter Tangerine, Fearsome Critters, and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

City of Asylum believes that All Pittsburghers are Poets. With the Poem of the Week series, we seek to increase the readership and appreciation of poetry locally by publishing poems written by residents of Allegheny County of all ages and levels of experience. In partnership with the Poetry Editors at Sampsonia Way Magazine, City of Asylum advances our mission to defend, celebrate, and build on creative freedom of expression. This project received a RADical ImPAct Grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD).