Siri Burt

Blind Eyes Burn Skin

“Blind eyes, Burn skin”/declared the giant halogen lamp/sitting in my grandmothers tub/I did not question why it was in the tub/I stepped outside/my eyes started to adjust/bright southern sun/my vision filled with white/like a blown out highlight in a dark room print/needing to be dodged/ outlines of daisies and a dead kitten/ appear in my vision/ developerwashingoverlighttouched emulsion/the all consuming white light/scares me/like im on stage/trying to see a face/past the spotlight/I need to use my imagination/to infer what is past this/bright light/with only pieces of a full story/i suddenlyeaseintothe\ unknown/feeling comfortable/in the white/nothing factual/no right or wrongs/only guesses/whatIwanttobepastthelight

Adjectives- the latches of being

"In the world of the Homeric epic, for example, being is stable and particularity is set fast in tradition. When Homer mentions blood, blood is black."- Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red

As Carson discusses, Homer was a champion of attributing a fixed visual descriptor to every substance in the world. I would like to try and do the same.

Women-always a bodily liquid

Blood-always unbearably warm

Skin-always folds

Fire-always trying

Hands-always intimate

Teeth-always ivory and black

Braids-always tangled

Fingers-always a portrait

Ribs-always appear fragile but actually are strong

Spine-always broken

Metal-always darkened