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Two Sacraments

Janell Tryon
​In a remote village in a country
where I do not belong
I go walking toward the familiar
It was a night like before
and you were as far away
as ever—the flesh of the hip to the bone
 
Slow enough that I thought
they were boulders, the white herd--
twelve more full moons, holding
the daylight through the dark--
heaving their great chests
watching me walk until sleep
 
Charolais. I learned their name
so I had something to tell you
when you called
And when you did I forgot
and thought only about your
forehead, a thirteenth moon
 
Until the white cows came, I had forgotten
about the eve of your wedding,
when you took me out into the pasture,
away from the man that would be your husband
Even in the open lands of Kentucky
some women are invisible
 
Two broke apart from the herd,
charged at us. Great beasts of purpose,
and mine? I couldn’t know it then
(You were saying in other lives
we had been married before,
we would marry again)
 
Your front teeth, one steep step
down to the rest of the mouth where
there was silence and then a-cha!
You cast a spell over their path, the pair
lumbered around us and beyond, your
body square to them and unwavering
Picture
Janell Tryon is a researcher and artist based in Oakland, CA. Her most recent poetry collection, The Sea Runs East to West, explores themes of matrilineage, sacrament, and grief. These poems emerged alongside the creation of her video-installation piece “weft/threadbare,” which examines the ritual and role of hair in the lives of her participants. She developed both projects while attending residencies at CAMAC Art Centre and Wormfarm Institute in 2017.


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