Panika M. C. Dillon

SEWING UP THE PARTS (WHERE WE FORGOT TO BE) BROKEN


chorus

our aria has only one more pair

of lungs; (you need)
a new mouth / I

cut one, seam
it like ( )

a button
hole /

here's one (on
my dress) where

the mother
of pearl

popped
across the

room— your
thumb: rubber

band / skied to a pile of
dust, fell asleep hoping (one

day) you would kiss it back (to life)

Panika M. C. Dillon hails from Fairbanks, AK and Austin , TX . She received her MFA in creative-writing poetry from Sarah Lawrence College .