Poetry: Kodi Saylor
Subject: Requirements for Emulation
To: Octopus Girls
From: Bureau of Economics
Date: 6/2/16, 10/25/16
Subject: Requirements for Emulation
We, guardians of—it has come to be civilization—yellow xylophone played on moonless nights—music is extraneous; the luxury of sound can no longer be preserved and in the new world we—you are building, dear girls, you are unnecessary—remember to wipe the radio clean—remember to exclude audio and sky under enjoyment—we work to pierce our voices, remove the violets in your laps—we know you know—girls, all night long, work silence into song deeper than sound until your hands are swollen in the midnight oven of our new city—chew away the whistles through windows—the clamor spilling sirens—the water echoes oars on a lake—there are no more lakes.
Carole Cranks Out the Index
She inputs it into the octopus
the bell rings
the water pipes rattle
a kettle whistles
transfer hot water
into pot add tea nineteen cups she maintains the index
of objects assigned by the committee to be translated the index
contains the exact descriptions & locations of all entries into the octopus.
She makes tea daily for the girls.
For seven years after the bosses entered the octopus
she has been altering the index
put in
broken crockery dishwashers baby blankets—tampons barbies
endless garbage she does not stop with garbage—shit
the bosses need not forget her hands bleed
often each is worn a nub and a finger
promises broken she will never get new hands
she transfers the skeletons of miners & lumberjacks
whole boats of drowned
fishermen plug away objects
images rejected by the object designation committee
playing she reassesses
abandon things she refuses to drink her tea
each girl must do her part when her hands fail
please don’t do that to me please don’t do that to anyone
on the cart the teacups never rattle soundless movement down hallway
her nub & arm cup the cups left in the slots patting the wall to say hello
speech is impossible the octopus glows orange
she chooses to tip over the bucket she chooses to measure
serial acquisitions with access remembering her mother
how did she arrive here
her handless arms pet the napkin nesting in her lap
the tea kettle whistles
she remembers she never said no
Subject: Instructions for Large Terrestrial Mammals
To: Flora & Fauna Data Ingest Specialists
From: Executive Board for the Effective Preservation of Cultural Memory & Values
Date: 2/2/16
Subject: Instructions for Large Terrestrial Mammals
Materials deemed unfit for accession must be ethically discarded. All large mammals including the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and bears [see Appendix 4G for full list] have been rejected. These animals and their paraphernalia, including reference materials and data, is to be ethically discarded. Please use the jelly machines installed for fossil & paper deposits. Remember our company commitment to preventing skulls from speaking. The Fiber Bureau serves aspirin at noon as part of the “all’s well here” program. Fish & fruit gelatin with kidney stake for lunch today—licorice is not allowed in air filters.
Kodi Saylor received her MFA in poetry at New York University where she was a Lillian Vernon Fellow. Her poems have appeared in Axolotl Magazine and Blue Mesa Review. She currently works at Newman Library at Virginia Tech.
Image: shutterstock.com
Check out HFR’s book catalog, publicity list, submission manager, and buy merch from our Spring store. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Heavy Feather Review 