by Hibah Shabkhez

On Transcribing / Researching Interviews //

squealing ellipses / have become // the secret lynch-pin /
of something incredible / yearni- /// waiting to be known //
as I hammer out / lies told with /// lies sheathed within /
the truths / they tell me / with their ey- /// that are shown //

now language / refuses sentences // and disperses /
into scrip of words // words /// split by slashes //
numbing / gobbling punctuation // reducing verses /
to plucked birds / sq- /// squawking out dashes //

the scooped sounds / fission / into opposing starfish /
that /// neither live / nor die // but poison everything //
here / where /// the salt of poetry / barred from the dish /
vaults in / through the window // to sing and /// sting //

Image: Art by Steve Johnson via pexels.com. Find more of his painting and photography at artbystevej.com.