Studium Spiritus Sancti
Editor’s Note: What follows is a single poem from Annie Blake’s Studium Spiritus Sancti. Scroll down for a link to a printable PDF of the entire work.
Schizophrenogenic
but i often underestimate my husband / for he pointed out that i actually said schizophrigid / i had a kitchen dresser which contained crockery i never used / over- solicitude is display mothering / for the women who set out their family’s clothes is not serving hot food on plates / for my mother would always shake me awake and ask me if she thought she should see the doctor / so i thought sex was rape and miscarriage meant the same thing / so i feared my father more than the devil / and i grew up and showed no trouble casting the last stone / so to recover the heart / i unturned every single stone and built a grotto / swirled myself around like a chocolate mousse / ripples and waves / a tip which leaks like a tap / waterfall lush / milky watering in concrete crevices until the shore joined in / so while children play / their toes watered and sprout oaks from the ground /