"Suspension" by Emanuela Iorga
Subjective Units of Distress Scale 1-10 by Jill Khoury
(with 5 bonus units for additional introspection)
1 – emotions are just neurochemical swirls happening inside your body
2 – the wind rattles the windows at celeste’s house
3 – the slug and bore in our voices
4 – at the library 100 ringtones go off at once
5 – all of the above but add pain; specify whether the pain is
aching, acute, anvil, arrow strike, burning, chronic, clamp, electric, fetal,
folding, nebula, neuropathic, nociceptive, panting, pressing, radicular,
spasmodic, stabbing, stuttering, tornado
6 – atmospheric disturbance like bees chanting a death hymn
7 – in the terrorwood my anxiety lights a fire
8 – st. dymphna with lilies, holding a sword
9 – time is a monstrous organ that breathes us
10 – flux slugs me in the head and blood
11 – anxiety croons, double down on me
12 – grief rehearsal
13 – constant siren
14 – not voiced, not out loud
15 – an empty volcano is called a caldera
2 – the wind rattles the windows at celeste’s house
3 – the slug and bore in our voices
4 – at the library 100 ringtones go off at once
5 – all of the above but add pain; specify whether the pain is
aching, acute, anvil, arrow strike, burning, chronic, clamp, electric, fetal,
folding, nebula, neuropathic, nociceptive, panting, pressing, radicular,
spasmodic, stabbing, stuttering, tornado
6 – atmospheric disturbance like bees chanting a death hymn
7 – in the terrorwood my anxiety lights a fire
8 – st. dymphna with lilies, holding a sword
9 – time is a monstrous organ that breathes us
10 – flux slugs me in the head and blood
11 – anxiety croons, double down on me
12 – grief rehearsal
13 – constant siren
14 – not voiced, not out loud
15 – an empty volcano is called a caldera
Jill Khoury is a multiply disabled poet. She edits Rogue Agent, a journal of embodied poetry and art. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in numerous journals, including Copper Nickel, Bone Bouquet, Lunch Ticket, and CALYX. She has written two chapbooks--Borrowed Bodies (Pudding House) and Chance Operations (Paper Nautilus). Her debut full-length collection, Suites for the Modern Dancer, was released from Sundress Publications. Find her at jillkhoury.com.
Emanuela Iorga is a filmmaker, artist, and screenwriter, who lives in Chisinau, Moldova. Art represents for her a recently rediscovered passion, following a series of world and inner changes. Her work can be found at https://manolcaincosmos.wordpress.com/270-2/
