ANTIPOETRY MAGAZINE
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  • Issues
    • Issue 1 | February 2022 >
      • American Atavistic by David Booth
      • Antonyms for “Automotive” by Glen Armstrong
      • Excuse by John-Thomas Kelly
      • goodnight by Elena Vallejo
      • SUGAR CUBE by C. Cimmone
      • How Dreams Can End Up by Richard LeDue
      • Granny from the Days of Yore by Todd Mercer
      • ​Motherhood by Julia Nusbaum ​
      • [opening the veins] by Christine Hamm
      • Maybe by Yulia Tseytlin
      • ​What Love Is by Julia Nusbaum
      • [down there one is alone] by Christine Hamm
    • Issue 2 | June 2022 >
      • Untitled (A milky light...) by Andrea the Caustic
      • my brother screams in supermarkets by Harriet Evans'
      • The Thing that I Miss About You Is Me ​by Pamela Moss
      • There is Still Time by Robert L. Penick
      • WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO by clive donovan
      • darker than night by Raymond Gibson
      • Idle Days by Liam Mcclelland
      • ​on picking up a crepe paper poppy outside of lincoln cathedral By J. W. Summerisle
      • Untitled (It was the middle of winter in purgatory...) by Martin McKenna
      • december by Èlyse Deering
      • 12 months by Phrieda Bogere
    • Issue 3 | October 2022 >
      • POEM COMPOSED OF TEXTS WITH FRIENDS by Courtney LeBlanc
      • Untitled (Fruits on the branches...) by ivan de Monbrison
      • Comes the Last Time by Steven Bruce
      • Hope is a Heavy Burden, Lay it on Me by Mariya Kika
      • Chipper Wood Chipper by Agrimmeer DeMolay
      • Death of Mangiafuoco by Toti OBrien
      • Boy by Toti OBrien
      • Hellish Perfection by Cody Ares Baynori
      • Event Horizon by Bruce McRae
      • Mirror by Khushnoom Merchant
      • like coptic by Falon Willow
      • Round Nouns by Will Stanier
      • I Found It For You Gong-Gong by Ren Peng
      • glass-breaking season by Charlotte Amelia Poe
      • THE WAY WE THINK OF BIRDS by Caitlin Andrews
      • Lost Is the Story by Alexander Etheridge
      • Memory by Ramesh Dohan
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[opening the veins] by Christine Hamm

In the windowless classroom, the tallest nun screeches at the
pink in our hair, at our lips, pinched until they seem lipsticked.
 
We’re always hungry but the yellow cake makes us sleepy,
suspicious. In the bathroom, we light matches to see who can
 
hold the flame in her palm the longest. We pass notes about
becoming nothing -- an invisible eye in an empty seat, calculating,
 
purring.  Some carve ANARCHEE in each other’s shoulders with
sharpened pencils: see how the blood seeps into her ivory blouse,
 
see the patterns it makes under her book bag, her jacket. Tell
me how it feels for you. In the dark, we share dreams about saints,
 
picking the parts of ourselves to sacrifice: eyes, tongues, breasts.
Confession: nothing hurts in quite the right way. Snowdays, we
grab holly branches that sting and close our eyes, hoping for wings.

Christine Hamm's Bio:
Professor, social worker and student of ecopoetics, Christine Hamm has a PhD in English, and lives in New Jersey.  She recently won the Tenth Gate prize from Word Works for her manuscript, Gorilla.  She has had work featured in North American Review, Nat Brut, Painted Bride Quarterly and many others. She has published six chapbooks, and several books -- including Saints & Cannibals.

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  • Home
  • Issues
    • Issue 1 | February 2022 >
      • American Atavistic by David Booth
      • Antonyms for “Automotive” by Glen Armstrong
      • Excuse by John-Thomas Kelly
      • goodnight by Elena Vallejo
      • SUGAR CUBE by C. Cimmone
      • How Dreams Can End Up by Richard LeDue
      • Granny from the Days of Yore by Todd Mercer
      • ​Motherhood by Julia Nusbaum ​
      • [opening the veins] by Christine Hamm
      • Maybe by Yulia Tseytlin
      • ​What Love Is by Julia Nusbaum
      • [down there one is alone] by Christine Hamm
    • Issue 2 | June 2022 >
      • Untitled (A milky light...) by Andrea the Caustic
      • my brother screams in supermarkets by Harriet Evans'
      • The Thing that I Miss About You Is Me ​by Pamela Moss
      • There is Still Time by Robert L. Penick
      • WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO by clive donovan
      • darker than night by Raymond Gibson
      • Idle Days by Liam Mcclelland
      • ​on picking up a crepe paper poppy outside of lincoln cathedral By J. W. Summerisle
      • Untitled (It was the middle of winter in purgatory...) by Martin McKenna
      • december by Èlyse Deering
      • 12 months by Phrieda Bogere
    • Issue 3 | October 2022 >
      • POEM COMPOSED OF TEXTS WITH FRIENDS by Courtney LeBlanc
      • Untitled (Fruits on the branches...) by ivan de Monbrison
      • Comes the Last Time by Steven Bruce
      • Hope is a Heavy Burden, Lay it on Me by Mariya Kika
      • Chipper Wood Chipper by Agrimmeer DeMolay
      • Death of Mangiafuoco by Toti OBrien
      • Boy by Toti OBrien
      • Hellish Perfection by Cody Ares Baynori
      • Event Horizon by Bruce McRae
      • Mirror by Khushnoom Merchant
      • like coptic by Falon Willow
      • Round Nouns by Will Stanier
      • I Found It For You Gong-Gong by Ren Peng
      • glass-breaking season by Charlotte Amelia Poe
      • THE WAY WE THINK OF BIRDS by Caitlin Andrews
      • Lost Is the Story by Alexander Etheridge
      • Memory by Ramesh Dohan
  • About Us
  • Submit