Broadsided
May 01, 2010
“Ex Ovo Omnia,” published April, 2010 with art by Julie Evanoff & poetry by Jennifer Perrine.
In a Switcheroo, we invite writers to submit poetry and prose in response to a piece of visual work created by one of the Broasdided artists.
And what of the mother of the monster,the Pandora’s box of her womb? What crack
in the world did she peer through to impress this upon her child: eagle’s foot and horned
head, serpents dripping from its waist, bat wings folded over a superfluous eye?
What can we say for the mother except
from the egg, all—newt and rodent, human and worm? What could she know of genetics:
cistrons that pump out seven hearts, twin mouths,
or a form more common, more humble? What could she do but watch while her infant starved?
What could she do but what we all do—hold our faults close, their names like stones on our tongues?