Rather Than a Picture Maker
Rather Than a Picture Maker
A found poem by Jenni Baker
I take my body as a test site:
mouth ears nose anus penis —
all apertures through which space
becomes apparent.
I am registered
through process; horizontally traced
by my wife, an outline indicates
internal organs exciting redness
in blood:
a place of transformation.
I will never know the neuroscience,
but try to isolate the feeling of the body,
acknowledge infinity in falling pigment.
There are six billion years left,
and every mark is not just about
the making of a sign but about
the place that something happened.
*found poem from Vesela Sretenovic’s interview with artist Antony Gormley in the Phillips Collections’ brochure for the 2012 exhibit “Drawing Space.”
– refers to “pigment” in moment, molecule by Paris Elizabeth Sea
Referential Magazine 
This is a good poem and I like it. I was a little confused since I thought the poem was written by a woman, ‘Jenni’ taking her body as a test site yet there’s mention of penis and wife. Maybe I should have read the poem she/he referred to first. Love the last stanza.
That’s always a good discussion point. Does the narrator of the poem have to be the same as the author 🙂
I’m not a regular poetry reader but I find this evocative…word choice and cadence appeal to me. Maybe the lyrical nature draws me in? This makes me want to read more poetry — so the poet was successful on that level!
I appreciate your comment, Jessie. I should know that the narrator doesn’t have to be the same as the author, still, how would it have worked if the author had used third person, “He rather than I, first person? Thanks for your input re: this matter.