Excerpt from "Opened"
This is the box, frozen against hierarchy
at a value of some $10m, simply a form of being;
surgeon's box, patient's wound,
an idea of enclosure that can fit any medium.
The gaze is on the side of things.
The angel of evil could not have done that.
A child is in heaven. The box is empty,
saying nothing but "construction." It really is
like swatting flies; we can do it forever
easily and you feel nothing.
ANDREA BRADY (Hackney, UK) is an American poet and lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. She is the author of seven books of poetry including The Strong Room and three books of criticism including Poetry and Bondage: A History and Theory of Lyric Constraint.