Mama wanted to show them
how a face can become mud
bubblin’
Hung me on a drying rack
to air the horror human
hands make
My face is gravel my face
is blind my face is movement human so
unkind
O yes I can still whisper my secrets
without a tongue
O yes I can still whistle like a spate
with all this water in my lungs
Jesi Bender is an artist from Upstate New York. She helms KERNPUNKT Press, a home for experimental writing. She is the author of KINDERKRANKENHAUS (Sagging Meniscus 2021) and The Book of the Last Word (Whiskey Tit 2019). Her shorter writing has appeared in The Rumpus, Split Lip, Adroit Journal, and others. www.jesibender.com