Theadora Siranian
ANALOGY OF A BODY
after “Love Story” by Virginia Konchan
Mine is a cliff going nowhere.
It’s the trick escape door
at the back of the quarry—stone
waiting behind stone. Or, a bird
that imagines itself prey; I turn
after fleeing for an eternity,
the world behind vacant. My body
is the faceless, leathered creature
crouching in the corner
of my dream as a stranger
beats me tenderly over a table
while outside people pass unaware.
My body watches my body.
Sometimes it’s impressed, sometimes
it’s disappointed. Touch me.
Tell me I’ll never be too old to love.
My body is the tree falling alone
in the forest; it is mine. It is mine.