Dear Skull

beloved braincase, body’s bleeding heart

helmet law

 

dear ribs thick with implied meat, disused central

railroad, reverse spec house unplumbed

to propitious frame

 

dear double-strung forearm, dear violin bow,

 

dear pachyderm-eared pelvis,

 

dear barnacle spine—

 

Emily Van Kley’s poems have appeared in Nimrod, the Iowa Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Best New Poets 2013, among others. She is also a recipient of the Iowa Review Award and the Florida Review Editor’s Award. Her most recent project is an exchange of poems and images with the textile artist Sonja Dahl for 7×7.