My Body Has to Agree to Die: Lior Torenberg

May 21, 2020 Kate Belew with Lior Torenberg (North Salem, New York)

I fell into a leaf pile yesterday, and refuse to get out 

have you ever deigned to drown? it's not unlike 

falling asleep in the middle of the day 

by accident, fully dressed, the laundry half-folded

and the windows open to a snow in May 

the act of waking formidable, a reaching

from somewhere deep inside, listen to me 

the body has to agree to die, it has

to learn to step away from itself like walking through

divine flora, vegetal growth - outwards

while letting go, a different skill like

an unlearning, which is the act of remembering

and I do this by gathering each thread in my fingers 

and weaving of myself a riot of sunlight.