Stacy R. Nigliazzo

From the beginning


         we are all want           eyes

hemmed tight          mouths open

                                                                          we take                flight

wings snapping wishbone-clavicles—

                                          and then we have faces
I don’t believe


           you’re up there         looking down on me.

                               Why would you, after everywhere you’ve been

and could be?

            I hope someday to see what you’ve seen

                                                       to shed my eyes      like antlers

against the pistil of the sun—

                               to bear its blistering marrow            without blinking
How will I find you

           and what          do I seek

The breaking of stars                          Your eyes

                                 In what language do the dead     speak

                                                                                                Do you still have a face?

Stacy R. Nigliazzo is a nurse and the award-winning author of three poetry books. She is a member of the Humanities Expression & Arts Lab (HEAL) at Baylor College of Medicine, where she teaches poetry and art to physicians and students.

Banner Art:
Photograph by Corey Agopian, Unsplash, 2017
Back
Next