Body Bag, Olivia Hajioff

We exist, you and I, in body bags. Stretchy, but a perfect fit. And when we lie quietly, what do we feel? Not an arm or a leg But a buzz, an ache, an itch.

Try it.

And the rest? Blank space. Pricks of light in a dark city.

But choose a point in the numbness and suddenly it will come alive: The tip of your nose, The heel of your hand. Once unfelt, they now belong. And you will be brought back to earth in the knowing.

OLIVIA HAJIOFF, a Fulbright scholar, first published a story at age nine. It was televised as a children's ballet for the British television show, Freetime. Since then she has written for the British Fulbright magazine, HIV Now project and various musical magazines. Olivia’s poetry has appeared on philosopher William B. Irvine’s website, Ginosko Literary Journal, Better Than Starbucks, The Shambhala Times and the Front Porch Review. She is the 2020 Grand Choice Winner of the Laura Riding Jackson Poetry competition. By profession, Olivia is a concert violinist, teacher, member of the Virginia Arts Commission Touring Artists and the Marcolivia Duo.