An Atlas For All That Is Temporal

To Wryly .

name the oceans first
to honor the genealogy
of those who jumped ship.
i name the fish my kin
& the bones foundational.
the seafloor become territories
& poisoned. i have named so many
coasts my home. i tide romance
as i learn the topography of my erosions.
all we know of land is what manages
to protrude from the water’s grasp.
name my mountain range a hormonal episode.
curves articulate altitude. name the valley
growing between my breasts, supple.
the weather matters. she winds & rains
& droughts. the climate is regional.
every time zone calls me late.

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Jzl Jmz (formally jayy dodd) beamed down in Los Angeles ’92 & is reuploading herself to the internet. Her professional career includes positions at Blavity, The Offing, Winter Tangerine & more. She’s been featured in the LA Times, Poetry Magazine, Oprah Magazine, Ms. Magazine, PEN America, Willamette Weekly, The New York Public Library & several anthologies. She’s the author of Mannish Tongues (Platypus Press 2017) & The 2021 Poetry Center Book Prize-winning: The Black Condition ft. Narcissus (Nightboat 2019). She curated Beyond Special Issue (a collective critique on tokenism in (Trans*) poetry) & THEE SPACE Poetry Prize with Shade Literary Arts. She’s editing Bettering American Poetry Vol. 2 (Bettering Books 2017) A Portrait in Blues (Platypus Press 2019) & Her film & performance works have been installed & screened across the country from classrooms to museums. She has been a Lambda Literary Fellow, Precipice Art Grant Recipient through Portland’s Institute of Contemporary Art & Artist-in-Residence at Ori Gallery. She’s an occasional rapper & founder of Tournament.Haus Mutual Aid Fund. Find her talking slick or in another dimension.