Pantoum for a Diagnosis
Alene Terzian-Zeitounian
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.