Iowa Writes

JOSHUA KRYAH
Neverbody


Unsaid,
          but that the hand makes it
known, a gesture not yet clear, but veering
close, close.

And what else should speak for you then?

The sparrow
                caught in the soot-limed chimney,
its wings thrashing and thrashing and
thrashing—

What revealed then, what rent?

Bone, ivory, dentin—
                      the body's bright Braille to sift through
as harbinger, herald, or messenger—each a sign
almost certain

to assemble an architecture worthy of worship,

but that your livid offering,
                              again enlivened, its parts
quickening to pronounce a way back, should
want only to linger or bide

or persist, uninterrupted, in this, its marrow-house.

About Iowa Writes

Since 2006, Iowa Writes has featured the work of Iowa-identified writers (whether they have Iowa roots or live here now) and work published by Iowa journals and publishers on The Daily Palette. Iowa Writes features poetry, fiction, or nonfiction twice a week on the Palette.

In November of 2008, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Iowa City, Iowa, the world's third City of Literature, making the community part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

Iowa City has joined Edinburgh, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia as UNESCO Cities of Literature.

Find out more about submitting by contacting iowa-writes@uiowa.edu


JOSHUA KRYAH

Joshua Kryah attended the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa and is currently a Schaeffer Fellow in poetry at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His manuscript, Glean, will be published by Nightboat Books in 2007. "Neverbody" first appeared in The Iowa Review 36.1 (Spring 2006).

This page was first displayed
on July 03, 2006

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