POETRY

The Shape of My Guilt

An ekphrastic poem

“The Long Pig” by Oliver Perry (shown with permission)

Flesh blocks itself forward
  to the belly of blue
appendix: a rib    or
   drifting:          : gullet :
     washed:   : & set  :   a pepperoni
     slab:      : smile : socketball
   cringing in cycle
my bone:  redding itself:  chinning
  itself:  the bones of the ear:
        exposition   themselves : polite:
          “do you want       a slice?”
   sleazy stepping : when guilt
 trips : the floor
                   falls instead : blue  blood :
       : unseen so fresh :    a casket    :  anything  :

to be maimed is gone.

This poem was inspired by Oliver Perry’s painting, “The Long Pig.” Morbidly, the phrase “long pig” was used in cannibalistic cultures to indicate “human flesh used as food.” In the context of this poem, self-consumption can be seen as a metaphor for a kind of aggressive, self-effacing shame dressed as self-improvement.

You can view more of Oliver Perry’s work on Instagram @ollieperryart.

Rowen Veratome