Michael Jackson Dreams the Elephant Man<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The thick bones float toward him,
\nthe great misshapen skull bathed in white.
\nShyly, he touches the explosion of cranium,
\ntraces the cauliflower
\nossified at the back of the head.
\nPresses his fingers against the spine,
\nfeels pain locked in the vertebrae
\nof twists and spirals, feels nights
\ncrouched in a hall beneath the crudely-
\nlettered sign: Half-Animal Half-Man.
\nFeels the rising velvet curtain.<\/p>\n
The head rises before him, luminous. <\/p>\n “Michael Jackson Dreams the Elephant Man” is reprinted from Crab Orchard Review.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Arlene Naganawa\u2019s poems<\/a> have appeared in The Floating Bridge Review,<\/a> Sow\u2019s Ear Poetry Review, Crab Orchard Review, Cider Press Review, Caketrain,<\/a><\/em> Flying Chickadee, The Comstock Review <\/em>and elsewhere. Private Graveyard <\/em><\/a>won the Gribble Press Chapbook Contest in 2009 and The Scarecrow Bride<\/em> was the Floating Bridge Chapbook Award runner up for 2013. \u00a0She lives in Seattle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michael Jackson Dreams the Elephant Man The thick bones float toward him, the great misshapen skull bathed in white. Shyly, he touches the explosion of cranium, traces the cauliflower ossified at the back of the head. Presses his fingers … Continue reading
\nThe dreamer feels the scalpel
\nslicing tissue, gouging bone, chipping away
\nimperfections, carving his soul into something
\nmore exquisite than God intended.
\nWeeping in white light
\nthe monstrous skull whispers:
\nI was not loved. Yet, I believed.<\/em>
\nThe dreamer echoes:
\nYes, to be beautiful,<\/em>
\nbleeding under the bandages.<\/p>\n