Book of Attic

Rachel Abramowitz

I name nothing

but the unwashed

hair of the afternoon

gathering its haze in brain

corners and also

the glass of milk that refills

itself when the

church bells digitize

the air. I have nothing

but attic. I do not have

a head on. I scoop

red currents from

the air to feed

whatever future comes

closest, comes without

glory, without fiat,

stumbling in on rag legs.

I could do this all night.

Rachel Abramowitz is the author of The Birthday of the Dead, winner of the 2021 Marystina Santiestevan prize from Conduit Books, and the chapbooks The Puzzle Monster, winner of the 2021 Tomaž Šalamun prize, and Gut Lust, winner of the 2019 Burnside Review prize.
Originally published:
July 19, 2023

Featured

The Shapes of Grief

Witnessing the unbearable
Christina Sharpe

Writing in Pictures

Richard Scarry and the art of children’s literature
Chris Ware

Garth Greenwell

The novelist on writing about the body in crisis
Meghan O’Rourke

You Might Also Like


Images from the War

Doha Kahlout
translated by Yasmine Seale


Newsletter

Sign up for The Yale Review newsletter and keep up with news, events, and more.