A Teaser Poem

Hi everyone. Ross here. I'm very excited about these readings and I hope that you are too. As you may have read in my bio, my chapbook The Measure of Healing is inspired by childhood memories of my brother living with aplasia. In his case, the aplasia manifested itself in a long, hairless scar down the middle of his scalp that he endured for much of his life. Though I will not be reading from my chapbook exclusively, it is a strong theme in my work and indicative of the kinds of experiences I draw from in my writing.

Without further ado, here is a sample from The Measure of Healing:


Unfinished

I drew your portrait
when 'brother' was still a magical word,
conjuring up games of catch
and tramping afternoons through creek beds.
My best work was done
on acid-bathed construction paper
with thick smelling Crayola markers.

I filled your crisp, red-speckled head
with my accumulated knowledge
of children's mysteries: wonder
in the still heart of thunderstorms,
jars bursting with fireflies,
and the cruel delight of pinching
them in half to wear their green vitality
like gems set in invisible rings.
Lastly, I placed myself in the center, assuming
that you thought of me
just as frequently.

Wanting so much to impart brotherly wisdom,
I stretched the perimeter of your head
to monstrous, lumpy proportions
that could only be contained in the imagination.
I opened your head to the world, not knowing
that surgeons would have to close it.

The single hairs I drew
stood like rows of corn
over a slowly swelling earth,
creating gaps of cracked, pained soil
open to the sun. That was a gift
I had not intended to give, but left
for you to struggle with
when I quit my drawing for the day
to play outside.