Scan

[k-j]

I turn it over in my hands,
the inky A4 printout
of the ultrasound:

is that a leg or an arm?
I turn it upside down.
Is that a jawbone

or a jumping bean?
I look at the spine,
shaped like an interrobang,

and then, I grope for the whole:
a whorl of monochrome
denoting an incoming storm,

or a photo of Jupiter
taken by an early NASA probe.
Our own Enigma code.

I put it down and look
out at the late spring evening,
where the sky is wet and bulging

with thunderheads - ripe plums
on a perilously-laden bough -
overhanging hungering mountaintops.

Potbellied homunculus,
cupboard-Indian,
Echo's bones,

juju, astronaut,
inscrutable old seer,
lodged in your far-off cave:

what does the future hold?
You ought to know -
you're from there, after all.

[SoundlessFall]

I thought the line

"Our own Enigma code." was inspired.

Really great read.

SF

[cameron]

Hi kj

Enjoyed this very much. Definitely your best so far. My only concern is that it seems to contain 2 poems. The first one ends perfectly for me after 'enigma code'.

The whole thing reminded me of You're by Sylvia Plath.

Nice work.

Cam

[k-j]

Thanks SF, cam. Good point about the two poems - needs knitting / gluing / rearranging. Cheers.