The following poems are from THE NEW WORLD, Kelly Schirmann’s new book, available now from Black Ocean.

 

THE NEW WORLD

 

The New World arrived
when we were unconscious
 
It laid on top of the Old World
like vellum paper
and showed us what we’d done
 
There was no one to blame
because everyone was an institution
and therefore subject to rules
 
There were many new documents
we felt compelled to sign
 
There was still fresh juice
though we regarded it skeptically
 
The New World shined
brighter / and was
 
Red became a color
for the first time in decades
 
Heat came from humans
who were just pure energy
 
Food grew faster
and more anonymously
 
Eventually
 
The New World split itself
between ideology and action
 
It made new images
and reproduced them
 
Many of these images
were of a much Newer World
we hadn’t gotten to yet
 
There was a feeling permeating
all of us / a sleepy memory
 
of having moved beyond
the moment of choice-making
 
without having made
a choice at all
 
The New World for example
was not a singular decision
 
It was an adjacent performance
Long and slow
 
Still
 
I watched it sometimes
when there was nothing else on
 
Something to clean the house
or prepare food with
 
Otherwise it was just me
 
And how quiet it got then

 

 

THE NEW WOMEN

 

Slogans are merciless
 
They stick in your face like a crease
 
I believe women have two bodies
 
One of the bodies knows how
to recognize dissonance
 
The other body suffers
this dissonance daily
 
Someone who believes
the past and present belonged
to someone other than females
  
made a bunch of t-shirts for us
 
It’s a rough game
and nobody likes the rules
  
The trick is inventing a third body
Graceful and athletic
 
To send out into the world
and bring back some $$$

 

 

Read more about THE NEW WORLD, available now from Black Ocean.