plantar fascia
︎︎︎ Emily MacGriff
︎ Nov 17, 2022
I
found a list of all the broken
coordinates I’d written onto Wakatobi
from the back of the ship in
moss plastic journal strips
of skin blooming around the edges
of skirt print bleeding with the crescendo
of steps and strokes spreading open, open, open
into the ocean’s rolling stomach spilling banded sea
kraits slipping in, sleeping with my life
vest bellowing chime, chime
one thumb, one thumb
drumming
where my arteries hung
gasping, preserved, mostly,
by salted affirmation
on a page last night
that time will stitch the sea
together and I thank
my mother for passing
the anti-motion
sickness
gene
to me
and the ghosts
want their body
back in cyan and scarlet
stretches of siren
breath.
coordinates I’d written onto Wakatobi
from the back of the ship in
moss plastic journal strips
of skin blooming around the edges
of skirt print bleeding with the crescendo
of steps and strokes spreading open, open, open
into the ocean’s rolling stomach spilling banded sea
kraits slipping in, sleeping with my life
vest bellowing chime, chime
one thumb, one thumb
drumming
where my arteries hung
gasping, preserved, mostly,
by salted affirmation
on a page last night
that time will stitch the sea
together and I thank
my mother for passing
the anti-motion
sickness
gene
to me
and the ghosts
want their body
back in cyan and scarlet
stretches of siren
breath.
Emily MacGriff is a writer and bookmaker living in Detroit. Her imagery pulls largely from experiences enjoyed while working aboard expedition ships mostly in the polar regions, South Pacific, and the British Isles. emilykaymacgriff.com