'The baby I want to have / explodes / from my stomach...'
The Baby I Want to Have
explodes
from my stomach
like a flesh pie splitting with teeth
snapping
gnashing
at the necks of the attendants
wringing
their pink and blue hands
mercilessly
killing me
before I can witness
the extinction of this
mechanistic
metal-fanged mouth
spinning
like a defective toy
through the back alleys of the universe
jms xuange is a poet whose work explores themes of identity, trauma, and dissolution through surreal and transgressive poetics. Their writing investigates the body as both a site of violence and resistance, often blurring the boundary between self and other, sacred and abject. Their work has appeared in Five on the Fifth and Brief Wilderness. They live and write in Asia.
Dorota Chioma, a self-taught artist and poet/writer based in London.After years of self-suppression, which was sabotaging her wellbeing, she rediscovered her creativity through art therapy followed by an independent artistic journey. You can find more about her here.