Chessy Normile
Chessy Normile wrote the book Great Exodus, Great Wall, Great Party (2020 APR/Honickman First Book Prize) and the chapbook Proceedings of the Ordinary Annual General Meeting (After Hours Editions, 2024). She lives in Madison, WI.
In a Crowd Then at the Edge of It
If your whole life passed—
the wedding you fell asleep during
to wake and realize it was your own,
the children you knew
and baked tall cakes for,
how you broke and set
the bones in both legs—
through a curtain
do you think that curtain
would feel heavy or what?
Romance
You can walk around
in a burning wool coat
in love with a man
who is sleeping.
Naturally Selecting Yourself Out of Existence
Lying down in a bed
of flowers the size of salt
all glowing lilac
with rushed pink stems
it’s a soft, crushing sensation
like letting a rope slip
through your wet hands
and the heavy weight attached
plummets down into the sea
and there goes your house.
When I realized disassociation
was the #1 skill for advancing
through the 21 st Century
I recognized my own demise approaching
in one of those flaccid Dr. Seuss hats.
So I guess all I want to say is hello
to the children I will not have
I tuck you
into a red bed
inside my heart
then I tuck that heart
inside my body
and my body
inside the earth.