this is my death chamber
the leaves—gas walls, green and thick—
the valves let in
the vapors’ chemicals—
the witnesses are
the birds—
if it is day, I hope the wind is up
if it is night, the moon’s yellow knuckle
flashes
a black callus—
this is my death chamber—the passion that brought me to it
pure
Christine Garren is the author of the poetry collections Afterworld and Among the Monarchs. Her latest collection is The Piercing, published in 2006 in the Southern Messenger Poets series from Louisiana State University Press. A Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist and NEA Fellowship recipient, she was born in Philadelphia and has lived in Greensboro, North Carolina, since 1979.