Book Excerpt: Peony Vertigo
Jan Conn
USA
A ROLLER COASTER, A HIT, A PINT-SIZED DEVIL MACHINE,
SOME DARK CHOCOLATE
I stole from you a noun
hijacked a verb
I declared I’m mostly female, a peony
in the mouth of spring, too late
I’ve constructed a gorgeous building equal to or better than
any one of Gehry’s, made from my and Lou Reed’s
cross-dressing days Be careful in the large
incarceration space of America be very careful
*****
AFTER-IMAGE
During the scant time between our births me and my brother
Both grandfathers died and one grandmother
came to live with us then three younger sisters
This being the order of external events
Internal ones beyond our grasp
*****
PART STAR, PART VENOM PART BONE, PART MICROPLASTIC
We are greatly swayed in our thinking
by the rabbit sketched on the full moon’s face
Her tattoos are unexpected⎯hundreds of ants climbing up and down
arms and legs
I wondered what trail they are following
I said quietly, the ants are here now They are your friend
Don’t be afraid
of anything
Jan Conn is a Guest Contributor for Panorama
Canadian Jan Conn’s tenth book of poetry, Peony Vertigo, is forthcoming in the fall of 2023 from Brick Books. She is a member of the collaborative writing group Yoko’s Dogs whose third book of renga is Caution Tape (Collusion Books, 2021). As a biologist, she studies the ecology and population genetics of mosquitoes that transmit malaria parasites, and travels extensively to Latin America to conduct fieldwork. Her visual art has been shown in Toronto, Albany (NY) and several venues in western Massachusetts. Photos of paintings and the world at IG handle artistatplay001.
Peony Vertigo is forthcoming from Brick Books, fall 2023.