U

Unconfession in My Psychoanalyst’s Office

by Jackie Braje

Not brave enough to write
in lyric, embodied dreams
I tremble in a flower’s vocabulary—

retract my hands like from
a hot sky or suddenness

dreams which pass through
my body are no different from hands

my life during deep waters
were long and unpaid

called my local paper
to ask about marigolds

deep researched small birds
in trees and how to agree

are violets breathing if their
sternums only expand—

to a palatable degree I wear
my need like a husband

Photo by Diane Picchiottino on Unsplash

Jackie Braje

Jackie Braje is a Brooklyn-based poet, educator and arts administrator. She serves as the Chief Operating Officer at The Poetry Society of New York, a 501(c)-3 non-profit that produces a number of initiatives such as The New York City Poetry Festival, The Poetry Brothel, The Typewriter Project, and much more. She is also the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Milk Press, and an MFA candidate in poetry at Brooklyn College. Her work has appeared in Ninth Letter, The Minnesota Review, The Quarterless Review, Stoneboat, Statorec, The Nottingham Review, and elsewhere. She is a 2019 Brooklyn Poets Fellow and the recipient of a 2022 Himan Brown Award.