A Title, Not Yet Recorded
By Tufik Shayeb
the pink and fleshy occipital cortex
in a dark cave, wearing a furry loincloth,
finger painting on the inside of my eyelids
four wild hunters attack a reptilian beast
this is the drawing they will admire someday
my organs were around long before dinosaurs
my organs have died too often, stuck in resin
remains preserved for thousands of years
everything crawls out of an egg, not a mother
but Pangaea was born drifting into pieces
this is the myth chanted during thunderclaps
history has not yet begun, nothing is recorded
winter turns its belly to sun itself on a rock
extinction hangs its head like a toxic fruit,
its presence is ignored, even in desperation
here, intestine also means swamp—here,
my heart pounds its own chest with two fists
but there are no creatures left to threaten
TUFIK SHAYEB's poetry has been presented in numerous publications, including Pedestal
Magazine, Restless Anthology, The November 3rd Club, Lifelines and The Good Things about
America. To date, Shayeb has published three chapbooks and one full-length collection titled, I'll
Love You to Smithereens. In 2010, his latest manuscript, titled All Janked Up Zombie Suit?, was
chosen as finalist for in the Write Bloody Publishing annual submission call. Currently, Shayeb works
as a part-time paralegal and attends a private law school in Arizona.
the pink and fleshy occipital cortex
in a dark cave, wearing a furry loincloth,
finger painting on the inside of my eyelids
four wild hunters attack a reptilian beast
this is the drawing they will admire someday
my organs were around long before dinosaurs
my organs have died too often, stuck in resin
remains preserved for thousands of years
everything crawls out of an egg, not a mother
but Pangaea was born drifting into pieces
this is the myth chanted during thunderclaps
history has not yet begun, nothing is recorded
winter turns its belly to sun itself on a rock
extinction hangs its head like a toxic fruit,
its presence is ignored, even in desperation
here, intestine also means swamp—here,
my heart pounds its own chest with two fists
but there are no creatures left to threaten
TUFIK SHAYEB's poetry has been presented in numerous publications, including Pedestal
Magazine, Restless Anthology, The November 3rd Club, Lifelines and The Good Things about
America. To date, Shayeb has published three chapbooks and one full-length collection titled, I'll
Love You to Smithereens. In 2010, his latest manuscript, titled All Janked Up Zombie Suit?, was
chosen as finalist for in the Write Bloody Publishing annual submission call. Currently, Shayeb works
as a part-time paralegal and attends a private law school in Arizona.
