Jill Khoury

Not my first time on the carousel eating a cake of thorns

A silver thread follows me /
tawdry spill of pills / i crunch
them between my teeth
ignore the scale / just to
ride the ponies / turn
the crank on the music
A silver thread follows me
/ the way the birches lose
their skin / i want to
exist in a space that is
at once shedding keeping
shedding holding shedding /

Jill Khoury (she/her) is a multiply disabled poet and a Western Pennsylvania Writing Project fellow. She has taught poetry in high school, university, and enrichment settings. She holds an MFA from The Ohio State University and edits Rogue Agent, a journal of embodied poetry and art. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in numerous journals, including Copper Nickel, Bone Bouquet, Dream Pop, and CALYX. She has written two chapbooks—Borrowed Bodies (Pudding House) and Chance Operations (Paper Nautilus). Her debut full-length collection, Suites for the Modern Dancer, was released from Sundress Publications. Find more at jillkhoury.com.