Issue 34: dervish; wolf 3 | poem and artwork by Melissa Leto
"you never forget the first time you’re prismed. the after wave can go years: have you ever felt like that? like someone’s hand transcended your flesh…"
Welcome to KHÔRA, a dynamic online arts space produced in collaboration with Lidia Yuknavitch’s Corporeal Writing. Visit our Archive to read previous issues. Scroll down if you’d like your work to be considered for future issues.
dervish; wolf 3 | poem and artwork by Melissa Leto
on the other side sound vibrated through the body
she felt the writhing of caterpillar tents tunneling her veins
tasted the wingspan of a bluejay on her tongue and water
magnetized pulled the thought wet her mouth filled her cheeks.
nailed to oak trees: paintings framing women object, object, object,
then one after another released
the leg or voice or spine of a woman poured them out,
haven’t you ever seen a woman climb out of a painting before? reach behind her
for the nail hung her became a shape so unrecognizable the word woman
became something entirely different became a non-word…
Read dervish; wolf 3 on KHÔRA.
Melissa Leto makes art near the Salt River on Hohokam land in Arizona. Her/Their work has appeared in Bloody Funny Zine, Shrew Lit Magazine, Tom Maxedon’s Word! podcast, and Write On Downtown. Their wordmaking weaves joy, grief, and trauma while infusing the interconnectedness of alive things on planet earth with queer love in realms of hybridity. They have an MFA from Northern Arizona University, are the lead facilitator for literary arts non-profit Revisionary Arts, and an editor for Rinky Dink Press.
Issue 34 Highlights
Issue 34 is live! | The crack in my armor by Michael Nagle
On acid I like to ask Alex questions like: “On a scale of 1 to person, are you a person?”
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With galactic gratitude,
Leigh Hopkins
and the Corporeal/KHÔRA squad