A slice of her brainiography:

 

GENETICS

 

i'm contending with the girl in the photo.
it could've been the day she began menstruating.

 

brain aflutter with lesions, i watch a blood bubble
blossom from the injection site on my thigh.

 

in the photo the girl knows she will continually
evade averse events with minimal success.

 

who goes there, flirting with disability?
in some dreams, there's nothing on the shelves.

 

at the injection site, curious spirits gather.
the girl in the photo, the lesions, all in collusion.

 

 

THE ALLEY

 

brain finds an alley to hide in.
no one knows which city lies ahead.

 

i am thinking of the city of my youth. this city
does not consider itself allied with me.

 

brain thinks about the lesions, sweet
white spots. brain thinks this looks good on me.

 

i am holding the city of my youth
& when you shake it, snow falls & settles.

 

truth talks to brain in alley.
alley trickles off map.

 

 

ELEVEN BRAINS

 

eleven printouts of my brain in an interoffice
envelope. eleven brains vying for my attention.

 

names crossed out, lists of undesireables.
days like this lie in wait.

 

eleven dreams stand at attention.
i know who they will become, if i look away.

 

i saw the brains myself emerge from the copier.
who will receive them, these flat brains.

 

sweet disease, said the maniac, as she struck
eleven brains from the invitation list.

 

 

 

TONGUES

 

the lover no longer allowed their tongues
to mingle. the beloved closed her eyes.

 

behind the eyes of the world, brain watches.
brain redirects the action in sluggish motion.

 

the beloved allows herself to be rolled
into the magnetic tube. all eyes on brain.

 

tongues wash the shore & withdraw.
ocean brain understands the tide.

 

disease is the clue she offered to the gods.
see answers on previous page.

 

 

THE SOCIETY

they draw a box around the newly diagnosed.
they say click here & i comply.

i notice a woman with a gorgeous cane.
it takes on light within its orbit.

inject a candy-cane colored liquid
into the brain.  better to see you with.

infinity is brain beneath skull.
clouds are brain matter, so what says the sky.

i notice the woman i once was.  she pauses
while boarding the bus ahead of me.

 

 

Along for the Ride

they called it an e.r. but i knew better.
why the laying on of stones?

it's hard to get the words, numbers, figures.
somewhere outside a future lover will betray me.

brain lesions interfering like electricity.
a walk down the street, cement breathing.

brain tells chest wall to seize.
body cares not but goes along for the ride.

a lunar landscape sighs in my body.
body cares not about whereabouts of the disease.

 

Electric Eyes

an eleven-brained woman turns her head.
the girl in the photo shields her eyes.

the doctor made copies of her brain.
there was no one in the waiting room.

i'll go first if a gust of toxins comes.
eleven brains are better than one.

turn your head, girl in the photo.
wait for rain, hope for greater contrast.

the doctor made copies, stirred the broth:
the electric eyes of her brain did not blink

 

The Ceramic Bear

 

eleven pictures of the woman's brain in an interoffice
envelope.  who will be the recipient?

the girl in the photo is unusually quiet tonight.
this is all taken into account by the ceramic bear.

the girl in the photo doesn't mind when the people
leave the room.  the red sea parts for her.

the woman with the disease eases off the pedal.
let it coast, let it allow her to collide with god.

the girl in the photo meant to warn the woman.
the ceramic bear still struggles for breath.

 

© Evelyn Posamentier

Continues with the 2nd Part