Locomotion
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When tendency derails intent(C4, C5 out of line) buckledfirst thing by routinesheet-smoothing; it's solight, the throw that settles,so divides a tensile spinefrom one in throes — a while,the tendons must have hitchedtheir ropes a little tighter behindmy back, their twangI must have freightedfor days: each nightthat froze & every [End Page 39] dawn over rotten train ties runningon but off, a slip will shiftthe time- table, stopby junction locked, till non-functional, un- coupled, out-of-sync: what you do & say &think. I did double downevery day; said it pained menone; I thought nothing of regularchafing at this body & nowhereit carried me counted; now,I count chipped discs of paint.Lying in the bed I've made,adjusting my old conditionsfor bliss, clicking through this chainof spine & side- lined, I'm fine-tuned,I'm fine [End Page 40]
Cate Lycurgus's poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Tin House, Orion, and elsewhere. A 2014 Ruth Lilly Fellowship finalist, she has also received scholarships from Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers' Conferences and was named one of Narrative's 30 Below 30 featured writers.
