Riley Danvers - [Soma]tic

Oregon poet Riley Danvers reveals what it means to be human in a painful state of flux in her avant-garde [Soma]tic. Fashioned in the complex experimental form of an annotation, Riley’s poem describes corporeal form as tangible and gritty as it is vulnerable and sensitive, as [Soma]tic reveals just a hint of a broken relationship which has erupted in kineticism and violence. Like our flesh and bone, this poem is also comprised of layers, the seen and unseen as it builds towards a sort of crimson-colored climax.

[Soma]tic¹
——

_______________________

¹I said my body // functions // and I mean
——-that it ///// exists ///// blocks of bone
————–and cords of / muscle sewn inside / epidermis
———————breath / waste / urine / blood / Working / Systematic

I said my body // functions // because I mean
——-/ it’s filled with dust mites / bed bugs / and hornet
————–stingers / bubbles of tears // refracting // and ///
———————releasing /// uterus // ovaries / / / broken heart

I said my body // functions // because body /
——-cannot contain the / sky /// gravity
————–undoes / weightlessness / and the mind
———————warps / out of its own / reflection

I said my body // functions // because i
——-t has begun to / snap / and I mean / I wish I was a spider
————–or a hummingbird or / anything not / on the cusp
———————/ of fully understanding the / flow of / blood /

And I mean / sunlight fills extremities
——-with / gravitational flame / sudden orbit
————–of moons / solemn exhale / shifting
———————sand / and midnight candles / flame
—————————-rotting hollow / inside // floorboards
———————————–overgrown / / / / / / body / / / / / / target

Riley Danvers

Riley Danvers is a bisexual and disabled poet living in Portland, Oregon. Her poetry has been published in Silkworm, and Clackamas Literary Review, among others. Riley graduated with her M.F.A. in Poetry from Willamette University in 2021. Her debut book of poetry, Even the Air, Too Heavy, was published by First Matter Press in 2022. Their chapbook, This Is How I, was recently published by Bottlecap Press, and her second full-length collection, Arborism of Branching, is forthcoming from Arteidolia Press.