Corpus

(after Alejandra Figueroa)

 

Here I cover the surface of the body

the body the surface, the covering;

One begins by entering the frame

the body the frame, a welcoming,

a focusing and open terrain,

I advance

 

A boundary frames a region

one must discover how to explore

a removal of the covers

may expose the surface display

the region, the mounting and frame are one

to the senses

 

I attend

with hands and smell and vision

I cover the surface of the body

bringing the cover to surface

entering the frame and mounting

I go on

 

To penetrate the body,

uncover what the covering covers

seek what surfaces in the surface,

mysterious border

pliant and porous

a solid liquid, an ever-forming form

 

I retreat

impassable yet liminal

covering countering my own

I give space

to space already withheld

and everywhere available

within its frame

 

The asking gaze

ensnares what it questions

but cannot possess

the living surface does not answer

but responds in its covering

at one with what’s beneath

 

Inseparably inhabitant

to countenance this cover

is to uncover, to discover –

surface to surface –

indecipherable content