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 /