By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes in collaboration with the Armenian artist, Tatiana Ferahian
TRAUMA
(Inspired by the women of the Armenian Genocide who were tattooed by their captors).
The body remembers
contusions the epidermis forgets
Recounts kisses
forcibly sealed within lips
Carry’s the weight
of wounds
time hastily erases
Feels the blunt force
of each hand
tied behind back
Bleeds internally
until the needle of a voice
punctures skin
with the name of the transgressor.