Tuesday poem #33 : Sarah Mangold : How to Electrify Human Hands

To redeem dreams betrayed by the machine—The devout
mechanist— Mesmerized subjects—Magnetized waters—Priest
and patient—Her reader will understand this compression

Displacements of agency reconstituted through technology—
Each new version of the phrase a small victory in an expected line
of succession—At the same time she advocated—The marks
of desire are various—The spirit body abounds with scenery—
Spiritual nitrogen—Spiritual calcium—Exhale

One way of attaining to be—Boundless and unknowable desire
is a generative grammar—Trinket—Lincoln—The number
“379”—And the image of a small house

A sensitive girl—Her sensitive fingers—Motifs of sea
and separation—We have received hand written instructions—
Breathless wonder and utopian potential—The implied reader
is a qualified reader—An ideal specification should not waiver
from this purpose

Sarah Mangold lives near Seattle, Washington and is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts 2013 Poetry Fellowship. She is the author of the forthcoming Electrical Theories of Femininity (Pavement Saw) and Household Mechanics (New Issues), selected for the New Issue Poetry Prize. Recent chapbooks include Parlor (above/ground press), Cupcake Royale (above/ground press), I Meant To Be Transparent (LRL e/editions), An Antennae Called the Body (Little Red Leaves Textile Editions). www.sarahmangold.com

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan