Vanessa Thill

Caressing, wounding
touch of cloth
mouse-meet, crawl around it
taking small bites
lucky me, to hold her shape
huge mammalian snake
muscling up salt crags

She twisted toward me
vining, opening
numinous hell flower

The pelted-up wreckage of a bear tarp
cored, taken over from the inside
this cave I went into didn’t exist
Ox-all, Washenol, Mistolín
Shearling, Kyoto, Wyoming

And, clean her teeth with a nail
wait with tense unknowing
craning, like a new pet owner
for whimpers or claw clacks—


Vanessa Thill (b. 1991, Berkeley, CA) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She has recently exhibited her work atNicelle Beauchene, Payfauxn, Hood Gallery, and on the digital platformSCREEN_. Since 2014, she has produced exhibitions, publications, and other projects asSorry Archive. She has worked as an arts educator with NURTUREart and Arts in Parts, and currently acts as a Curator at Large and beekeeper at Knockdown Center. She regularly contributes critical writing to Art in America and other publications.