“When It Comes to This Fleshed Neck”

When it comes to this fleshed neck
even a finger could do it,

even a sharp stick,
a blunt blow, a fall—

My jugular,
there’s a soft target.

And night is a soft target,
all of us within it.

And Osama shot dead
in his pajamas

And everyone
on the Brooklyn bound F

as the man removes a bomb
from his bag

a square of chocolate
he detonates in his mouth.

The preceding is from the Freeman’s channel at Literary Hub, which features excerpts from the print editions of Freeman’s, along with supplementary writing from contributors past, present and future. The latest issue of Freeman’s, a special edition gathered around the theme of power, featuring work by Margaret Atwood, Elif Shafak, Eula Biss, Aleksandar Hemon and Aminatta Forna, among others, is available now.

Deborah Landau

Deborah Landau is the author of three collections of poetry: The Uses of the Body and The Last Usable Hour, both Lannan Literary Selections from Copper Canyon Press, and Orchidelirium, selected by Naomi Shihab Nye for the Robert Dana Anhinga Prize for Poetry. In 2016 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. "And What Now of Dreaming?" and “When it Comes to This Fleshed Neck” are from Soft Targets, her fourth collection, coming in April from Copper Canyon Press