Bun by Gillian Sze

Bun
Gillian Sze

They love the way she gathers her hair,
her fingers minding her hairline,
combing from the forehead,
down to the temples,
behind the ears.

Yes: she is ordinary, like most people;
but how lucky they are to witness
her miss the last tendril,
the one that sticks to her neck,
curled like a crescent moon.

MARGINALIA

1.
Day 30 of The Sealey Challenge. Today’s offering is The Anatomy of Clay by Gillian Sze.

2.
This book delves into the question of how to be both the artist and the medium in the ongoing creation of the self, with poems that trace the contours of the human experience.

3.
I think of the metaphor of clay—how it is both malleable and resilient—and how it symbolises the body and our life, how we are constantly moulded by our surroundings, our relationships, and our memories.

4.
The poems here are rich with imagery that highlights the tension between the physical and the interior self. I think about how our vivid inner lives can sometimes be a shield we use to protect ourselves from the realities of what’s out there, but also how it can be a mirror with which we try to nurture our understanding of the world.