SQN - Sine Qua Non - Issue 1 - Journal - Page 117
SINE QUA NON
A.E. Abitz
Ghazal
“What is a [wo]man anyhow? what am I? what are you?”
- Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
I have been so many versions of myself.
Each one grafted, increases upon my self.
Like starfish, each omphalic rendering
spills out from my previous self—
the new, swallows delicate chorion
(latticework of her self )
and leads onwards— those sage mother-strings
the fibers of this rose-pink self.
But who is this me? These same angel kisses,
scarred forearms, all
myself.
How these old scars have transformed,
translucent. Have I ever recognized myself?
Stop.
Imagine instead how each glistering membrane
might twist into some final, mellifluous self.
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