Salem Paige

earthworms and wormholes

feckless and pink
as thin as a child’s finger
or the end of a pencil,
only unbreathing but
alive, they slip between
lost yesterdays and find
the time where time reigned

no cortex, thoughtless
patten to and from this
new world built and none
the wiser or perhaps
wisest there is, even
brainless they found
the secret before we did

they drag themselves back
and forth bringing fragments
of days on their accordion
bodies, narrow and
transcendental, too small

to see how huge of a distance
they travel, across the universe
and back before the rain begins

you may notice changes in your perception of the senses

when you
touch things they may
feel different*

*soft skin feels like a rind of fat
and muscle dense and burrowing.
a radiating from
eternal things and manufactured, the hum
of what touch is meant to be.
tongue-swollen from the way
words start to taste, crawling
from the croaking in my throat-base;
my body quakes
with old touch made
new again. ringing into
my mind / the voice
in my head crippling open ears.

you may
perceive pain and
temperature differently/
your tastes may change.

you may find your preferences
evolve and your sense of self
becomes fully realized.

the truth is i was never hunted

only killed. distance
between my eyes gaged but
never carved
open/ things i’ve
never tasted. slow time
and cold down to the
nerves of my teeth, unfair
to the bone ) and still )

not in the way
i’m buried
i am
i can’t not admit/
the earth here is softer

and the clouds
have wider mouths )

Salem Paige (they/them) is a transgender poet living on Algonquin Anishinaabe territory (so-called Ottawa, Ontario). Their works explore identity through existential and often visceral imagery. They have been shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize and longlisted for the ROOM Poetry Prize. Their poems have appeared in Beyond Words magazine, STREETCAKE magazine, flo. literary magazine, Ariel Chart Literary Journal, BiPan magazine, and others. More on Paige can be found at www.corpseofapoet.com or @corpseofapoet on instagram and twitter.