Monkey Fist
Tiny red citizens
run and throw
weighted red threads
across the cut
in my thumb and
pull, and it’s pulled
closed.

Lacquer layers come cover over
theory /
territory /
weight /
bloodspray /
werewolf

and the hand returns
to normal.

It’s
a Tim Hawkinson
and you can tell.

The Bach
it’s programmed to play
survives by infecting a new host
and dying.

From here
it’s a sphere.

Get inside it,
threads lengthen &
writhe
in all directions
out of control.

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Jon Woodward grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and Denver, Colorado. He has published two books: Rain (Wave Books, 2006) and Mister Goodbye Easter Island (Alice James Books, 2003). He currently lives in the Boston area and works at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. His website is jonwoodward.net.