swifts  &  s l o w s · a quarterly of crisscrossings

hums forces circle into square
Nadia Arioli

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Watching the Clock, 1958, wikiart

On “Watching the Clock” by Kay Sage

here clocks are made from cardboard and bone
she is watching the clock  she unpins
the gold one from its nail above the kitchen sink
and hums forces circle into square
why shouldn’t she take it with her

time and bones are inflatable watch

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Margin of Silence, 1942, wikiart

On “Margin of Silence” by Kay Sage

I am no mammal.
Can you imagine me having blood,
let alone blood that is warm?
I have a hole where breast

should be. Motherhood
like absence I have built

my person around.
You can find me by the edge

of the sea, hairless as any
mollusk. I thought I too
were shell, but nothing
fills in my corners.

You demanded to know what
I am, having only known
a woman by the warmth
between her thighs.

I am the key that goes nowhere.
I am the lint in your pocket,
the shrieks of a maid. I am
a hand full of pills.

I keep a margin of silence
around me like shadow.
There will be no note,
at least, no note for you.

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from Nadia Arioli’s latest book “BE STILL Poems for Kay Sage”  →

Unveiling Kay Sage’s World:
An interview with Nadia Arioli by Sally Brown
on ARTEIDOLIA →

Nadia Arioli is the co-founder and editor in chief of Thimble Literary Magazine. Their recent publications include Penn Review, Hunger Mountain, Cider Press Review, Permafrost, Kissing Dynamite, Heavy Feather Review, and San Pedro River Review. They have chapbooks from Cringe-Worthy Poetry Collective, Dancing Girl Press, Spartan, and a full-length from Luchador. They were nominated for Best of the Net in 2021 by As It Ought to Be, West Trestle Review, Angel Rust, and Voicemail Poems.