The Body Manuscript
by
Kwame Sound Daniels
Kwame Sound Daniels is an artist based out of Maryland. Xe are an MFA candidate with Vermont College of Fine Arts. Xir first book, Light Spun, is out with Perennial Press. Xe paint, cook, and make sodas in xir spare time.
from The Body Manuscript
Jenny Hval’s “Why This?”
I heard a song that reminded me of
hunger. I listened and waited until
my stomach grew empty and my mouth, dry.
The music was wordless and meandered.
The vocals verged on wailing. I felt, in
that voice, a ringing clarity that led
me back to loss. What is it about the
glory of starvation? Bestowing an
emptiness and fog, hollowing the
bones, making the hungry bird-fragile, prone
to death. One last flight before a spiral.
One last time to grieve before all feeling falls away.
There is a song that sounds like hunger.
I find myself singing along.
