Polyphonic Autopsy of a Woman Who May Not andor Cannot Exist
the chart below shows the decline in the fire death rate (2006-2015)
she
before
burned
they gouged out eyes
eyes
I’s [sic]
her
the chart below shows the trend (2006-2015)
[He]
is
asking
me
about
Joey [sic]
what
do
I
say???
I saw you in the Daily Beast etc. a little late, no smoke:
the webpage was chalk-white suitable for reading (excess of 700°C)
the text a clear dark brown-black (300°C–400°C)
my head was sent into an ash-like gray (500°C–600°C)
careening against this brown-yellow yellow yellow [sic] (200°C)
Fragmentation of burnt bones & survival of trauma made on bones
My heart breaking in two,
Please help me.
I miss you Joey [sic] dad loves you,
May u rip in peace.
She was scared. Because of … just scared.
It was an accident. So many trans women these days
live in multiple Ziploc bags. Sleep there. God I am so lucky.
We shared a name once. I have a cousin with two older sisters. Her name/
your name would have been mine if I’d been born a girl [sic] like her.
Keywords: burnt remains, burnt bone, cremation, DNA degradation, micro-CT
Keywords: when, she, didn’t, drink, poison, they, stabbed, her, multiple, times, in, her, genitals
The other night I was walking home
and I got viciously scared.
I wore knee-highs and a knife-
pleated skirt.
I was alone. Every pedestrian was a knife [sic]
or a martini glass of antifreeze, sweet,
or gasoline.
That’s when I think of you
and you and you and you.
THEM: the skull almost always stays, for the most part, intact, leaving the brain in relatively good shape [sic]
YOU: I am beautiful I don’t care what people think
ALSO THEM: You were supposed to stick to the story
I checked your social media, the only place you were
out. It was like a ghost town but
with better hair! This past fall mine was
the same color. Sunset.
I think we might be the same person
or friends. Let’s get engaged [sic]!
I cannot bear the thought of living in a world
without you.
the pie chart below shows causes of outside fires (2015)
other (4.4%)
act of nature (4.7%)
under investigation (4.8%)
intentional (17.1%) unintentional, careless [sic] (43.1%)
undetermined (25.9%)
the pie chart below shows (2015)
I
am
single ugly [sic]
probable am
will I
be
I imagine coroners
and forensic scientists
in their Tyvek paper suits.
I imagine ampules of
dark amber, liquid time.
In the corner is a centrifuge
spinning biological tempest.
I want to be
better than them [sic].
I don’t think I am.
[instagram user] @[instagram user] murder
[instagram user] @[instagram user] Rest [sic] in power
All this to say—
dear Not Joey—
this is Joey.
Today I found out
when bones burn at 1,100°C they lose half
their volume /weight. Our world is like that now,
feels as insubstantial as a crepe dove
unfolding its lissome wings
int o the Mid west s ky [si c]. .
Ansible
“You remember the ansible, the machine I showed you in the ship, which can speak
instantly to other worlds, with no loss of years — it was that that they were after, I expect.”
–Rocannon’s World, Ursula K Le Guin
JANUS
I am holding metal in my hand faster than
L i g h t
Heartbeat of s o u n d (limitless
a c c e s s)
EPIMETHEUS
This will save on the paper
we exchanged twice a year or so
I sold your letters on the bluemark et
to pay for the u pgrade
& here we are a-
cross peerless space
JANUS
I am s u r r o u n d e d by
plastic shells
filled with your gold & copper hair
a new t y p e of wheat to farm
labyrinthine p l a net miles & miles
while we pun on
a n s w e r a b l e
EPIMETHEUS
The version of us
witho ut this already exists
Precious rocks T he match checks out
perfec tly The math I
me an
JANUS
I am a f t e r the surgery which converted you
into an i m p lant
S o c l o s e n o w We play
the mirror game
We smash mothers’ china against w a l l s give each
other m igr ai n e s & n o se bleeds
EPIMETHEUS
When we first met I had a vision that the wor d
far
was in l o v e
it seems so stupid now
to think one day we’d be unrecogni zable
that the s u r p r i s e or disappointm ent
could have be en the point
JANUS
I a m Y o ua m
EPIMETHEUS
Lik e g ravity
on e p o i n t has to be fi xed
a rela tionship of c ertain m a s s but the ot her en d
mu st be m ust mus t be port ab l e
JANUS & EPIMETHEUS
Lov Ie G H T
L I Go Hn e T
L I G Hel p T me
LIG HT
Joy Belonger reading “Polyphonic Autopsy”:
Joy Belonger reading “Ansible”:
