The Maynard
Fall 2020

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midbrain

      Here, between sensation and action, between sleep and wakefulness,
                a roof, a waterway, some hills, two feet in black sandals,
                            the desire to know, and enough reason for joy—

                            In the deep center, the body knows when to blink
                and when not to feel pain. Here, the right hand knows
      what the left hand does. Memories of muscles

      and what to do with sound—
                The nearby reservoir is mothered by tenderness
                            and a spider. There, a drop of blood like a thunderclap—

                            Here, climate. Here, the body’s stem, the stone, the pit—