
from Animals with Sharpies (Drawn and Quarterly, 2013) by Michel Dumontier and Neil Farber via Personal Message
I grew up in a small team
and when I became leader I carried it with me, first
on my shoulders, then in my hair,
then knitted closely into my jersey.
My internal organs provided support.
My last post was in a communication channel. My duties
involved scraping fresh materials
from its walls. I flushed birds from the air
with my publications. I thought on my feet. I slept on the floor.
I came to know the experience of sound.
Over time my strengths built upon one another like strata.
My knowledge base, once tender
became thick with callouses,
horned with excellence. I later built from it a motorhome
which I parked in a field of data.
It now houses many different audiences
while my diverse hens
work the field,
surprising information in the oxalis.
I am at home
when no two days are the same; the day
that is the same projects a fear in me from beginning to end.
My weakness is the day that is too much
like itself. I leverage it onto a table, any table, for I am flexible
and cut out its environments. They come readily, glistening.
I have spent whole weeks with my mouth pressed to a projector
my heart commissioning oxygen. I have been driven
by the workforce of my passion. I have been caught and lifted
by deadlines which have redrafted my skin. My body reports to the soil.
My resulting blood has pleased me because I have only ever bled plans.

from Animals with Sharpies via Personal Message

from Animals with Sharpies via Personal Message
Wonderful!! I will be re reading this again and again. It provokes my curiosity, and excitement, great result for your poem!!
LikeLike
That *is* a great result. Thank you.
LikeLike
the first line is perfection, and it gets better from there – superlative enough for ya?
LikeLike
Yes yes, but what about the animals with sharpies?!
LikeLike
I tried phoning the anteater but that number doesn’t work.
LikeLike
Yeah, unfortunately she had to disconnect that number after receiving too many prank calls.
LikeLike
my body reports to the soil … nice.
LikeLike