Pantoum for a Diagnosis
Alene Terzian-Zeitounian
poetry ⋅ issue 1
After the apocalypse, I will go wild,
braid my hair and cliff dive, overexcite
every nerve, the ones that fail me,
the ones I hide; I will be reckless,
French braid my hair and climb
the crest like a wildebeest,
a reckless, unconcealed buckhorn,
the elastic pull of myelin,
a wildebeest’s crested horns; I will
forgive the countdown, cut the red bomb
wire, the myelin pull of elastic
is a nerve set free. I will dodge
bomb’s red plume, the countdown,
biding time radiation, lesions
less nerve than dodged bullet; I am free
of warrior, an inflammation of bravado.
I will radiate wildness; a forest of lesions
won’t stop me. When I run past,
bravado and warrior will part the seas,
and I will go wild after the apocalypse.
About the Poet
Alene Terzian-Zeitounian received an M.A. and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing with an emphasis in poetry; she also completed a doctorate in Education in the Leadership and Innovation. She currently teaches creative writing and serves as the Humanities Department Chair at College of the Canyons. She is also the faculty advisor of COC’s award-winning literary magazine, cul-de-sac. Her first book, Deep as City’s Ache, explores the Lebanese Civil Conflict both environmentally and psychologically. Her poems have appeared in The Colorado Review, Mizna, Cordite, Levitate, Duende, and Rise Up Review; in addition, a poem in The Bellevue Review is forthcoming.