Patient Bodies//Alison Thumel

These days
I don’t build much
but sit and wait
for my bangs
to grow out

At times I begin
to worry
that my cells
have stopped
chaining end
on end

There’s a naked woman
in every modern art show
I know because
in another city I saw
a dozen

Their skin always
hangs a bit looser
and thinner
than most bodies
I’ve touched
like a light tee
before the wash
tightens it up

Alison Thumel wanted to be a paleontologist when she grew up. That didn’t work out, so now she’s a writer in Chicago. She occasionally tweets at @alisynthetic.