Always Already Poems
Always Already Poems Podcast
An Ode to Semispinalis Thoracis
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An Ode to Semispinalis Thoracis

The Little Muscles that could Hold Me Up

An offering of thanks and benediction for the unheralded heroes of the spine.

semispinalis thoracis
muscles hold me up
lift and ground these lines
enfleshed verticality uncut

waterfalls tumble down
vapors rising up
pressures ascend and heat
winds draft away what’s corrupt

let the gravities go
let the flumes up flow
may these lights of color
may they circulate unbothered

may bubbles of clarity 
well spring
dissolving taught tensions 
holding bright wings

clipping the matter 
being becoming
throttling voice box 
wants to say something

autobound grabbing hold 
squeezing rib cage
frozen with inhale 
excites easy rage

so these meaty strands
try as they may might
hold tight barrel bands
old autonomic fright

fear that will fall
into shambles undone
bag of bones unzipped
crumbling tower shunt

rejoice the strength 
that remains while it does
embodiments amidst 
gravity’s buzz

pushing pulling 
lifting with unbound light
breathe expanse 
fills bound columns with height

all the way up and
all the way back down
profound below root
upwell beyond crown

containers in shape  
of who we are here
vehicles with habits [can
be] very hard to steer

with them let’s hope
the path is clear
ready to encounter
the stones littered near

the slippery bits
edge of earth
ground solid sometimes
yet varieties birth

uneven the stride
so thanks for the work
spinal column upright
where our paths forked

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