Assistant Editor Sakinah Hofler: When I first read Allison Funk’s poem, it lingered with me for days—not just because of her fiery last line, but also this concept or, rather, this fact that sometimes children’s physical cells can remain with a mother forever. The imagery of goats bleating, the power of a lion’s roar, the double meaning of pride all evoke the powerful, animalistic sense of what a mother feels when a child forever remains inside of her.
To hear Allison read her poem, click below:
Chimera
Microchimerism occurs when cells from a fetus she’s carrying
migrate into a mother’s body, where they can last a lifetime.
You could call me a hybrid, inhabited
By others clamoring in my blood.
Ancestors are no surprise, but children
Who overstay their welcome after birth?
For years they have whined in my mind,
Kept time in my heart, making me wild
Enough to bleat in the key of a hungry goat.
Mark my territory as lions do in decibels.
My pride versus my pride at stake.
Most dangerous fenced, I can scare
Myself as the snake I am too, whip
That coils inside, going round and around.
Some days it takes all my strength to keep it
From leaving my mouth as fire.
Allison Funk’s sixth book of poems, The Visible Woman, is coming out in 2020 from Parlor Press/Free Verse Editions. Her work has appeared widely in publications including Best American Poetry, the Paris Review, Poetry, the Beloit Poetry Review, and Pleiades. She is professor emerita at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
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