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.

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Interview with Jared Stanley