MY DAUGHTER SLEEPS
My daughter sleeps in revolution
One closed fist above her head
She screams, she dreams of regimes
My daughter sleeps revolutionary
Change curls behind her lips
She swings, the aegis of her own axis
My daughter sleeps revolt and revolves
Against what she is given
Against the finality of a name
Against the barbary of reason
Revolve in sleep my daughter, my star,
You move in new ways
There will never be an appropriate effigy
For your dreams
One closed fist above her head
She screams, she dreams of regimes
My daughter sleeps revolutionary
Change curls behind her lips
She swings, the aegis of her own axis
My daughter sleeps revolt and revolves
Against what she is given
Against the finality of a name
Against the barbary of reason
Revolve in sleep my daughter, my star,
You move in new ways
There will never be an appropriate effigy
For your dreams
Jesi Bender
JESI BENDER is an artist from upstate New York. She is the author of The Book of the Last Word (Whisk(e)y Tit, 2019) and publisher of KERNPUNKT Press, a home for experimental writing. Her work has appeared in Lunch Ticket, Split Lip, and The Rumpus, among others. www.jesibender.com