{"id":2871,"date":"2019-08-31T18:40:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-31T18:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barrowstreet.org\/press\/?page_id=2871"},"modified":"2019-09-01T23:42:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-01T23:42:59","slug":"dracker","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/barrowstreet.org\/press\/dracker\/","title":{"rendered":"Dracker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t4X2\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tan online poetry journal\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Melissa Hotchkiss\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFeet may not be\t\t\t\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

by Pune Dracker<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Feet
\nmay not be
\n          a natural talking point. But in
\n          fact, they are revealing:
\n          Twenty-six bones, thirty-three joints.
<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

I
\ncan\u2019t ever
\n          rub yours anymore, but I wear your
\n          grey socks with the little
\n                    red hearts that were once mine any
<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

way.
\nThe Bible
\n          says it\u2019s a lowly task to bow and
\n          bend, then stoop, then kneel, then\u2014
\n                    pour water into a basin,
<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

with
\nservant\u2019s heart,
\n          and wash and wipe the feet of someone
\n          else. Who would that send in
\t\t\t\n                    to a tailspin? Jesus didn\u2019t
\n<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>\n

mind
\nthat at all,
\n          even in a time when feet were so
\n          filthy. (makes him like Brett
\n                    Favre in Something About Mary<\/em>)
\n<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>\n

You
\nonce said I
\n          didn\u2019t skeeve you (and you didn\u2019t skeeve
\n          me), even that time I
\n                    cried and threw up in the yellow
\n<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>\n

cab.
\nJesus\u2019d
\n          be all avoiding eye contact if
\n          asked, Pick a color, Lord,
\n                    for your pedicure.<\/em> I get it;
\n<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>\n

like
\nme he\u2019s an
\n          under-receiving over giver.
\n          This is not a good thing.
\n          People who can\u2019t take make people
\n<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>\n

mad,
\noften laugh
\n          nervously like they\u2019re being tickled
\n          (defense mechanism
\n                    as seen on soles in nail salons)
\n<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>\n

Now
\nI can take
\n          anything you give, me and Jesus
\n          closing our eyes, pointing:
\n                    Grapely Admired! I Am What
\n<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>\n

I
\nAmethyst.
\n          Beyond the Pale Pink. We\u2019ll try tricking
\n          our selves and placing our
\n          hands on the pedicurists\u2019 hands,
\n<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>\n

which
\nallows a
\n          brain to predict the sensations. I
\n          could just pretend they\u2019re yours,
\n          get serious, whispering how<\/em>
\n<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>\n

am
\nI doing<\/em>?
<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\n\t<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI was real carnivilous: a discourse on eating\t\t\t\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

by Pune Dracker<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

1.
\nForty seconds left in the third round of the WBA Heavyweight
\t\t\t\t\t\nChampionship in June 1997, Mike Tyson rolled his head above
\t\t\t\t\t\nEvander Holyfield's shoulder and bit his right ear. Tyson
\t\t\t\t\t\t\nwas disqualified, the avulsed one-inch segment of Holyfield\u2019s
\t\t\t\t\t\near secured in a plastic bag. It was misplaced on the way to the
\t\t\t\t\t\nhospital. I wanted to inflict so much pain on him.<\/em> Why, Mike?
\nThis guy keeps butting me and I\u2019ve got children to raise.<\/em>
<\/p> \n

<\/span><\/p>\n

2.
\nWhat taste does flesh leave in the mouth? It was like good, fully
\t\t\t\t\t\ndeveloped veal,<\/em> said a journalist who ate the rump of a man who
\t\t\t\t\t\nhad recently died in an accident. You bite your own
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nforearm, press down & see your molar-marks Jawsed<\/em> there.
\t\t\t\t\t\nThe flavor profile is not that of a sweet baby cow or the
\t\t\t\t\t\t\nlove of a child or a heavyweight boxing championship.
\t\t\t\t\t\t\nThere is no taste because you are not and will never be like
\t\t\t\t\t\t\nMike in the ring, a genius of a body too strong at the time
\t\t\t\t\t\t\nfor the mind accompanying it and What else could I do?
\t\t\t\t\t\t\nMy fans are going to hate me, but I\u2019ve got to go home to my kids.<\/em>
<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

3.
\nA pigeon\u2019s mouth-feel. The breast in particular,<\/em> says a
\t\t\t\t\t\t\nPhiladelphia chef, is a mixture of duck and steak at the same time.<\/em>
\t\t\t\t\t\nIf you have not eaten pigeon you cannot corroborate this statement,
\t\t\t\t\nand we cannot ask Mike either. Because Mike is a vegan.
\t\t\t\t\t\t\nBecause Mike raises pigeons. Because Mike first felt the desire to
\t\t\t\t\t\nfight when he was 10. A guy ripped the head off my pigeon. This
\t\t\t\t\t\nwas the first thing I ever loved in my life, the pigeon.<\/em> Because
\t\t\t\t\t\nMike loves pigeons.
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\n\t<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\n
\n\t

Poet's Statement: I'd been meaning to write a flash fiction piece about Jesus, the ultimate foot washer, getting a pedicure, though it turned into a love poem along the way. I borrowed the structure from Marianne Moore's \"The Fish,\" which follows a pattern of 1,3,9,6,8 syllables per line in each stanza. Since most of my poems are research-based and there is so much thrilling language to be found online, I wind up with WAY too much tangential material; the strict syllabic form lovingly forces me to stay on point.
\n<\/span>
\nOn \"I was real carnivilous:\" Tyson's use of language is always surprising, and I really think he has a poet's heart. He has a rich vocabulary and often makes up words, one of which is featured in the poem's title. That was one of Mike's many responses over the years when asked why he bit his opponent's ear.
\n<\/span>
\nBio:\u00a0Pune Dracker is a writer, editor and current MFA candidate studying Nonfiction\/Poetry at The New School. Her work has appeared in SLICE<\/em> and Hyperallergic.<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4X2 an online poetry journal Photo by Melissa Hotchkiss Feet may not be by Pune Dracker Feet may not be           a natural talking point. But in           fact, they are revealing:           Twenty-six bones, thirty-three joints. I can\u2019t ever           rub yours anymore, but I wear your           grey socks with the little                     red hearts that were once mine…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2871","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barrowstreet.org\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barrowstreet.org\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barrowstreet.org\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barrowstreet.org\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barrowstreet.org\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2871"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/barrowstreet.org\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2905,"href":"https:\/\/barrowstreet.org\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2871\/revisions\/2905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barrowstreet.org\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}