The Body is Not by Gail Braune Comorat

a colored illustration in a science text,
not a flattened pocket containing all
that we are, an androgynous outline
with celluloid sheets we lift
to reveal the muscles, the veins,
the glossy white bones. And

neither is my friend’s body a city
despite the way her scans light up
like a runway with night descending.
Like looking down on BWI,
she says when she shows me
her body’s dark transactions:
a map of bright mushrooms
displayed in brutal radiance.



Gail Braune Comorat is a founding member of Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild, and the author of Phases of the Moon (Finishing Line Press). Her work has appeared in Gargoyle, Grist, Mudfish, Philadelphia Stories, and The Widows’ Handbook. She’s a long-time member of several writing groups in Lewes, Delaware.