kate kernan

charms against dismemberment

Depicted in cave paintings, trephination began in the Neolithic era as a surgical practice of skull drilling. The method was believed to cure mania, psychosis, seizures, and migraines. Often, the excised bone was kept in keepsake and worn by its owner to repel evil spirits.

Around our necks we wore
a talisman: white, cold bone
and heavy on skin.  A talisman
of good health, fair
health, not losing. Hold fast

 along footpaths of losing.
We clenched it in fists
when weather threatened pressed
bone into knuckle. Chanted
whispers to ourselves. Stand

ground. Hold position.
Hold off fevers, floods and wolves. Dodge
the sickness in the wind. Against the night
hold fast. Let the banks not rush in.
Let the slopes ease a pebble at a time.

 Hold. May our bones never come to fossil.

Kate Kernan is a physician and poet living in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and dog. She received her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and once saw the ghost of William Carlos Williams in a dream during her pediatrics residency at Washington University in St. Louis. She received the Joel Oppenheimer Scholarship to complete her MFA at New England College in Henniker, NH. Her work has been recognized by the St. Louis Poetry Center and published in Carbon Culture Review and is part of the editorial staff at Harbor Review.