I.
how much time passes
crawling through
the essence of a thing?
at the nearest gate
nothing opens up—
outside,
striations & ringforms
reflect geologic age,
birth & all matter
witnessed
thru the eyes
of a womxn
pulsing her hips
up & down
sunbathing
from inside the egg
invisible to naked eyes —
every womxn knows
at times i am nothing
but production—
w/o a mouth
organ / opening
taste something
a rift on the tongue
climax, bliss
& from the bottom
of a whirlpool
you pop up like a cork
writhing,
arrhythmic—
​
II.
enter through a parted lip
dual mother
O animus
what imagination
designs the monolith
constraining our desires?
aesthetics narrate conditions:
the monochromatic
experience
of civilization
O phallus of
the present moment
O looming polygon —
i call this a form
of coercion
a kind of hardening
& mean to say
the insidious machination
lacks rhythm,
opposes curvature—
i am talking about
the anti-lyric apparatus,
chainlink father / tower,
shrouded in fog
womb isolated from
anti-womb
our lips pressed
together
apparatus against the womb
by Isabel Balée
Isabel Balée is a poet, critic, and (sometimes) multimedia artist based in Oakland. Poetry and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in: Wolfman New Life Quarterly, Jacket2, and Ursus Americanus. Aside from communicating with the dead, she works an administrative non profit job, and shows up for the movement / struggle. Links to writings, updates, and other experiments can be found at her website: http://ibalee.me/