UNFOLD ME GENTLY

MARLENA CHERTOCK

This poem also appears in Chertock’s “Crumb-sized” (Unnamed Press, 2017)
 
 

Unfold me gently, I’m brittle 
calcified stardust. Me, mineral dense, 
 
collagen quirky. Unravel the cartilage 
from my joints, throw my bones 
 
to the unloved dogs. The curve of my 
ear canal might make a suitable home 
 
for a hermit crab. Send my misshapen 
hips to Maryland — their geographies match. 
 
Unhinge each of my vertebrae, jellify me — 
I was never straight to begin with. 

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