On the Motion of Animals

I am trying to tell you

something but my mouth

won’t move

I want to hold you

but it comes all wrong

I am marooned

in this body

with no gift

for puppetry

I want to

know you I think

I could

love you like you

probably should

be loved but my love

is a fish

in the wrong

kind of water

where I want

to hold you but

there’s someone else

in the room

the radiator’s screaming

and my arms won’t move

This poem appeared in Incorrect Merciful Impulses by Camille Rankine, published by Copper Canyon Press, 2016. Shared here with profound gratitude.

10.09.2026

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