Carolyn Supinka

BODY

of water, of weight,
I can't help singing to it,
             lovely
                          miles of salt, crushed
             under the heel of a prehistoric, prescient
giant, who saw the bigger picture
every time she stood up to survey
the curvature of all surrounding
territories, and knew:
this can't be all there is,
every horizon line
             disappoints at the same time
                          excites at the same time
             as the land rushes up,
your body
is waiting
for a boat
an empty vessel
can only be filled
             through memory, likewise,
                          when I say attic
             you think of your home,
the smell of lemon oil on oak
and the rustle of leaves falling
overhead, when I say door
you leave me and enter
your past.

Carolyn Supinka is a visual artist and writer currently based in Washington, D.C. Her work seeks to insert poetry and art into the everyday through performances and public poetry installations, through which she investigates the shifting relationships between people, space, religion, and identity. From August 2013 to May 2014 she was a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar in Pondicherry, India, where she worked on various poetry and art projects investigating modern day spiritual journeys and cultural exchange. Her interviews have been published at Sampsonia Way Magazine, The 22 Magazine, and Her Royal Majesty, and her poetry has been published atBodega Magazine, The Allegheny Review, and Fjords Review, among others. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2013.