Brain in a Jar

So difficult, the heart wants
what the hearts wants and
anything else takes time and acquiescence.

So accustomed am I to no,
and you so much to yes,
we bring out the great brain machines,
MRI and BET, extract and measure,
though size is so often not a prerequisite.

Is your grey so large that it matters,
is mine so infinestimable, a throw away god
you take out on Amateur Night, I lost behind
the mic and people laughing when humor is such
a seldom thing, as important as some new discovery?

I know about twin galaxies, their suns pulsating,
and what the children of Nepal aren’t eating,
how we disregard slave labor and the lovely rugs
hooked by six year olds. I have a healthy dose
of indignation but the hole in my wallet gets me nowhere.

The CAT says activity in my head is fearsome,
are you the one that makes my motor run so fast
or rather a tumor that feeds on my blood and grows and grows?
I’ve been told to cut out the poison in order to live, but the heart
wants what the heart wants, it loves this encephalitic organ.

“Electric Blue” © Alisha White

Rose Aiello-Morales: “I have seven cats, which should tell you more than you ever wanted to know. I am a crazy cat lady who rescues strays that people leave on my front porch. I am the author of ten books on Amazon, will do insane things to get published and hope I passed the audition. MY FINGERS ARE BLEEDING!”

Alisha M. White, Ph.D. is an a/r/tist, teacher educator, and assistant professor at Western Illinois University. Her work revolves around disrupting constructions of ability, integrating arts into her research, and teaching future teachers the potential for using the arts in teaching English language arts.