Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Dana Levin

ICHOR

ICHOR

ICHOR

The father died and then the mother died.
                  And you were so addicted

to not feeling them, you told no one about the clamp   
                  inside—

around the vena cava. Dam against the blood's
                  trash—

But I've got you now. Trussed at the waist   
                  in a wooden chair,

odor of spice and   
                  oranges, clove-pierced, incandescent stores   

                  to light our lab’s decor—

Here. I saved this just for you.
                  Beetle-cleaned and sharp at the tip, the finger that shook

in your set face   
                  from the hand that smoothed your hair—

Make a fist.
                  Wrap the tube round your fleshy arm, pull the black rubber

tight—
                  will we finally

see the sludge of their accumulated mouths, ah, you've said,
                  how they poisoned me . . .

Pierce in   
                  with your mother’s finger-bone, taste the slow up-well—

Sweet.
                   Sweet. Surge ambrosial and clear—

A honey, an ichor.   
                   From those who waited long   

                   in your veins.

Close

ICHOR

The father died and then the mother died.
                  And you were so addicted

to not feeling them, you told no one about the clamp   
                  inside—

around the vena cava. Dam against the blood's
                  trash—

But I've got you now. Trussed at the waist   
                  in a wooden chair,

odor of spice and   
                  oranges, clove-pierced, incandescent stores   

                  to light our lab’s decor—

Here. I saved this just for you.
                  Beetle-cleaned and sharp at the tip, the finger that shook

in your set face   
                  from the hand that smoothed your hair—

Make a fist.
                  Wrap the tube round your fleshy arm, pull the black rubber

tight—
                  will we finally

see the sludge of their accumulated mouths, ah, you've said,
                  how they poisoned me . . .

Pierce in   
                  with your mother’s finger-bone, taste the slow up-well—

Sweet.
                   Sweet. Surge ambrosial and clear—

A honey, an ichor.   
                   From those who waited long   

                   in your veins.

ICHOR

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
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