w. the soundsense of body body

Steven Alvarez

 

                | yr damn wall don’t wall lang|s|wedge
entirely unnatural                                                                            & trite imitating
                                                        mining data
                imagine repetition
                                                                of cliché
                                                if enough folks read thi—
                                                                                                hyper-correction of annunciation
                                                        performance
                                                                                                action
body breathing systole dyastole
                                                        body & performer’s extensive focus on nuanced act
                                as if that performed naturally
                                                w.o strain
                                                                certain eases seeming natural
                not feigned
                                                        not learned—quite bluntly—a natural sort of power embodied
                                ¿who can perform this?
                                                ¿what body?
                                                                body performing bodies
                body performing
                                                        left to riff | lived
                                performer’s choreographed instructions read
                                                ¿XXXX?
                                                        meaning improvise
                                                &
                                                                                                thus it happens | happen
pulses of air                                          modified by pulses of muscle | happen
                resulting in pops
                                                                clicks    hisses   snorts | happenings of sorts |
knuckles rapped |                                & cracked
                                                cracked on hard surfaces   productions
                                                                smoke
                                                                                                        puffs
                                                        turbines hiss

 
 

Steven Alvarez is the author of “The Codex Mojaodicus,” winner of the Fence Modern Poets Prize. His work has appeared in the Best Experimental Writing, Anomaly, Asymptote, Berkeley Poetry Review, Fence, MAKE, The Offing, and Waxwing. Follow Steven on Instagram @stevenpaulalvarez and Twitter @chastitellez.