Wednesday 22 July 2020


Dread, 2020

by Patrice Boyer Claeys


Under the folds of my brain
I caught you sneaking around in my mind
Corona—     
understanding somehow
you are everywhere
with one red eye.

*

Something as silent as the essential spaces of breath
is descending:
terrible, careless
with unstoppable force. If we
forget for a minute
and drink it in
breath      by      breath
we all become
a migraine in the dark.

Like moths in cotton, panic
twists its veiny neck.


Cento sources:  Brandi Gentry, Kaitlin LaMoine Martin, Martin Mikelberg, Lauren Goodwin Slaughter, Amy Lowell, sam sax, Pattiann Rogers, Sarah E. Barber, Jennifer Grotz, Victoria Kelly, David Wagoner, Dennis Schmitz, Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Fady Joudah, Mike Dockins, Cymelle Leah Edwards


* * * * *

Patrice Boyer Claeys is the author of two full-length poetry collections, The Machinery of Grace (2020) and Lovely Daughter of the Shattering (2019). Recent work appears or is forthcoming in Zone 3, Glassworks Magazine, Literary Mama, Inflectionist Review, Pirene’s Fountain and Aeolian Harp Anthology 5. Patrice was nominated for a Pushcart Prize (2019) and Best of the Net (2019, 2014). She lives in Chicago and can be found online at www.patriceboyerclaeys.com.

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