Rochelle Hope Mehr

Specimen

You ask me to read the poem aloud.
Perform it.
Bring it to life.

But I cannot--
I am muzzled on the page--
I bit off

A sublayer of my gut
Lies exposed
Toxemias froze.

It is a specimen
To gawk at--
Not a beast to summon

To arise.
Let it lie low,
Constrained by the page.