“The Darkroom of the Body”

– Lea Deschenes

Whatever’s developing
is likely to remain sealed below

the skin’s great projection screen
until it’s finally done

marinating in chemicals
that will either decipher it

as the amazing answer
to a litany of unasked questions

or expose it
as yet another reminder

of that time I jackknifed the tractor
while backing-up a load of hay

and sliced the tubeless tire so deep
I could reach my small hand

into the dark rubber
all the way up to my wrist

even though there was nothing inside
to hold onto

or to bring back
as proof that I’d been there at all.

Robert Wynne earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University. A former co-editor of Cider Press Review, he has published 6 chapbooks, and 3 full-length books of poetry, the most recent being “Self-Portrait as Odysseus,” published in 2011 by Tebot Bach Press. He’s won numerous prizes, and his poetry has appeared in magazines and anthologies throughout North America. He lives in Burleson, TX with his wife and 2 rambunctious dogs. His online home is http://www.rwynne.com.