i am a doll dug out of a landfill by Melissa Eleftherion

Melissa Eleftherion
Poet of the Month

i am a doll dug out of a landfill by Melissa Eleftherion

i am a doll dug out of a landfill by Melissa Eleftherion




Body of the cave mouth 
Dissolution of salt 


Intuitive ash collects 
I vibrate to the speleothem the duodenum


My heart holds the dirt
like some sweet music


i remember once a breathing green
i remember once breathing


i am a dull dig out of a landscape
The hemisphere a polydactyl crustacean of a fault


Veil of topography how the dirt is lucid mass
shell of sea star fall


in a ditch this sun’s
channel lines and gaps 


Here I am  that dirt 
i am limestone I am gravel


Lush grave of the verdant flesh
a lyric from the detritus
One lyric
up up little ascending


I say this to my cohort i say to the wind 
my desert of doll people i say to the abandoned tire i say


to metal
up up you can reach it
Melissa Eleftherion
Melissa Eleftherion

Melissa Eleftherion (she/they) is a writer, a librarian, and a visual artist. She is the author of field guide to autobiography (The Operating System, 2018), & nine chapbooks, including little ditch (above/ground press, 2018) & trauma suture (above/ground press, 2020). Born & raised in Brooklyn, Melissa created, developed, and co-curates The SFSU Poetry Center Chapbook Exchange with Elise Ficarra. She now lives in Northern California where she manages the Ukiah Library, teaches creative writing, & curates the LOBA Reading Series. Recent work is available at www.apoetlibrarian.wordpress.com.

Vallejo Poetry Society was founded in 2018 by Erika Snyder, Daniel Badiali, and D.L. Lang to serve as a resource for local poets. We encourage you to join our mailing list and follow us on social media for the most up to date event announcements, networking with other poets, and publication opportunities.
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