Cycle

Donna Kaz

leaking out
of the crack 
in her skull

and oozing down
past raw
vocal cords

murderous thoughts quiver
and bump against
her heart

squeeze 
between two
ballooning lungs

momentarily pause
along the walls
of her uterus

siphon off
comfort
suck out doubt

reach maximum size
burst open
and gush

like a river
that widens then narrows
and slows

and dries to a powder
of dust
which is blown

back through 
the hairline cracks
in her bones


Listen to Donna read the poem here:

Working notes

The large and small cycles of my life – those I go through and have gone through - are what inspired "Cycle." My body is/has been a vessel for the cycle of menstruation and of violence, and those cycles possess an almost unstoppable force that recurs. The poem also reflects on the larger cycle of life – birth to death.

About the author

Donna Kaz is a poet and lyricist whose poems have been published in Lilith, Turning Wheel, and Step Away Magazine. She has been a featured writer at the Pulse Poetry Slam, Carpo, Uncle Mo’s, and Wordstock. Her musicals include “Food” (music by Gerald Stockstill, New York Musical Festival 2010) and “LIVE! NUDE! GIRL!” (music by Wayne Barker, New York Musical Festival 2009). She is the recipient of residency fellowships from Yaddo, Djerassi, The Blue Mountain Center, The Ucross Foundation, and The New Lyric Institute for New Musicals. Donna Kaz resides in New York City and is completing her MFA in Creative Writing at Queens University of Charlotte.

For an updated list of works published in TRIVIA, please see this author's contributor page. 

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