DOOR OR TONGUE

In the dream I was covered by the fabric of the text.
In form it resembled a lion and had the features of a hedgehog.
The spirits feared they might be engraved in books, and that is why they howled at night.
You shaped the water for answers to questions I could not yet formulate.
After sunset, I gather my belongings.

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from Issue 8 of NOIR SAUNA

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Catherine Chen is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary poet and performer. Encompassing poetry, video, collaboration, and modes of installation, their work explores the relationship between textuality, mythology, and material histories. She is the author of the full-length poetry collection Beautiful Machine Woman Language (Noemi Press, 2023).