Kristin LaFollette

one poem

Genetic, Part I

My curses are shared / gifted to me more and more the older I get / and I must say I first noticed
the muffled sounds as a young child / would listen hard for faint beeps in either ear with a set of
headphones tight against my head / (strands of hair caught and pulling in the metal) / I would
hold up my right hand hesitantly / then my left / already knowing I answered wrong

/ a woman told me to
lie still be still
for almost an hour as she scanned my brain / and found nothing / my problem deeper in my
strands than anyone would be able to see / I simply became myself when the ringing came more
often / my face always turning to the right / and I know I’ve fooled people by carefully watching
the movements of their mouths / and saying yes, yes in place of misunderstanding /

now I press my head
(both sides, but mostly the left)
to brick to absorb / (take in) / the coolness / to understand the healing powers of ice

Kristin LaFollette is a writer, artist, and photographer and is the author of the chapbook, Body Parts (GFT Press, 2018). She is a professor at the University of Southern Indiana and serves as the Art Editor at Mud Season Review. You can visit her on Twitter at @k_lafollette03 or on her website at kristinlafollette.com.