Issue 2: embodied
Topography
leanne charette
I used to dress carefully
propped before the mirror tugging
at layers and seams
trying to hide my own
as if love could never trace its map
over the rough topography of my skin
how my face would burn
when I recalled the codeine-fueled
shamelessness with which I
met your gaze
ripped off the gauze
and said
look at my scars
as if that’s not what love is
Leanne Charette (she/her) has cerebral palsy and writes poetry grounded in her experience as a disabled adoptee and mother. Her work has been published by Vallum Magazine, the League of Canadian Poets, PRISM International, and more. She lives in the territory of the Anishnaabe, Haudenosaunee and Neutral peoples in Kitchener, Ontario, with her husband, twin sons, and an overly large collection of houseplants.