1
how to check blood sugar
screw lancet
into pen
scrub designated finger
with alcohol
knead gently
bringing blood
to the skin’s surface
press pen
against pink flesh
click and puncture
a thirsty white card
laps the crimson bead
a black device
that is all business
displays the number
2
clots drift
fallen petals
in no particular hurry
snagged
by branches
and stones
moving on
mostly
moving on
3
you’re growing
thinner
except for your belly
pale and softly
mounded
sweet as a baby’s bottom
I say laughing
injecting twelve units
of insulin
kissing the spot
a perfect
whorl of flesh
Poems from “Corporeal”: A Collection in Progress
Eva Eliav received an honours BA in English Language and Literature from The University of Toronto. The daughter of holocaust survivors, she grew up in Canada and now lives in Israel. Her poetry and flash fiction have appeared in numerous literary journals, including Room, The St. Ann’s Review, Emrys Journal, Ilanot Review, Flashquake, The Apple Valley Review, Horizon Review, The Enchanted Conversation, Stand, Constellations, Minyan, One Art, Gyroscope and Fictive Dream. She has published two poetry chapbooks: Eve (Red Bird Chapbooks, 2019) and One Summer Day (Kelsay Books, 2021).