Jill Khoury

Summer 2024 | Poetry

Two Poems

accident prone (some curses i know)

 

blow the intro when

bruise my shins when

split my lip when

bleed my nose when

cut my knees when

turn my ankle when

tear my ligament when

detach my vitreous when

ruin christmas when

scar my arm when

burn my face when

gray my tooth when

knot my forehead when

scrape my elbows when

lacerate my ego when

light my hair on fire when

get metal in my eye when

pull off my fingernail when

make an armor of my fascia when

make a wound like a little mouth when

 

i let you see me

 


 

the new year

 

                             can’t find my slippers

bed flipped upside down and backwards

 

my feed shrieks BE RESOLUTE

                           mirror implies with her eyebrows

 

                            i should at least take stock—

some synapses fire confetti and pop-rocks

 

will i make it through the winter i ask

                           the Universe Box (without becoming

 

                           suicidal) // i clear the counter of cups

this one a garish gift from last year

 

it’s time to feed the cats it’s time to

                          take out the trash but i can’t find

 

my slippers

or go outside

in bare feet

Jill Khoury (she/her) is a disabled poet and a Western Pennsylvania Writing Project fellow. She has taught poetry in high school, university, and enrichment settings. She holds an MFA from The Ohio State University and edits Rogue Agent, a journal of embodied poetry and art. Her poems have appeared in numerous venues, including Copper Nickel, Bone Bouquet, Dream Pop, CALYX, and The Poetry Foundation’s Poem-A-Day. Winner of the Gatewood Prize, her second full-length collection earthwork is available from Switchback Books. Connect with her at jillkhoury.com.

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