choppy tonight even walking
words chip against my teeth
I suck them in I spit them out
am I choking or drowning
out here the pilings won’t answer
they have a better question
I must walk closer to hear it
but they are not good for standing on
anymore I say or for boat tying
or fishing or fucking okay then
they will ask from there: why
is their skeleton beautiful and
mine terrifying
Poem appears in Turn it Over (Argos Books).
Jaime Shearn Coan lives in Brooklyn, New York. His poems have appeared in publications including Drunken Boat, The Portland Review, and Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry. His writings on dance can be found each month in the Brooklyn Rail. Jaime has received fellowships from Poets House, VCCA, Tin House, and the Saltonstall Foundation, and is the recipient of a 2014 Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant. A PhD student in English at The Graduate Center in his spare time, Jaime also teaches creative writing at The City College of New York. His poetry chapbook, Turn it Over, was recently published by Argos Books.