Our Animal Anatomy Camille Meyers Iowa State University
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2017 Our Animal Anatomy Camille Meyers Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Creative Writing Commons Recommended Citation Meyers, Camille, "Our Animal Anatomy" (2017). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 15375. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/15375 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Our animal anatomy by Camille Meyers A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS Major: Creative Writing and Environment Program of Study Committee: Debra Marquart, Major Professor David Zimmerman Brianna Burke Maria N Valenzuela-Castro Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2017 Copyright © Camille Meyers, 2017. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... v PREFACE ......................................................................................................... vi SECTION 1 LIMINAL ZONE ............................................................................ 1 Mermaids and Manatees ...................................................................................... 2 Dumpster Diver .................................................................................................... 4 SECTION 2 OSSA .............................................................................................. 8 Amphibian Bones................................................................................................. 9 At the Shuttle Stop after a Red-eye Flight ........................................................... 10 Sandhill Cranes .................................................................................................... 11 We Take the Hawk to the Self-Service Carwash and Pet Spa ............................. 12 Gone ......................................................................................................... 13 Contemplations at Children’s Peace Monument.................................................. 14 Broken ......................................................................................................... 15 Cervid in Four Seasons ........................................................................................ 16 Fruit Bats ......................................................................................................... 18 Asphyxiation ........................................................................................................ 19 A Conversation in Coasts..................................................................................... 20 Honey Desire ....................................................................................................... 21 SECTION 3 ANTHROMES ............................................................................... 22 Flirting with Emu ................................................................................................. 23 Mosquitoes ......................................................................................................... 26 The Killer in Me................................................................................................... 30 Domestication ...................................................................................................... 38 SECTION 4 JUNCTURAE ................................................................................. 43 The Hole in the Ground that’s on Fire and the Water We Wear and the River We Eat ........................................................................................... 44 We the Canary...................................................................................................... 45 How to Survive Wildlife Rehab ........................................................................... 46 Lessons in Hatred ................................................................................................. 47 While Looking into the Mirror ............................................................................ 48 iii Milk Snake ......................................................................................................... 49 Aberrant Branch .................................................................................................. 50 Spotted Hyena Warrior Women........................................................................... 51 Paper Doll ......................................................................................................... 52 Reciprocal Altruism ............................................................................................. 53 Pantoum for Vultures ........................................................................................... 54 Do Not Dress Me in Synthetics ........................................................................... 55 To Survive, We Became Cacti ............................................................................. 56 SECTION 5 BRACK WATER............................................................................ 57 Pandora’s Honeybees ........................................................................................... 58 Ground into Medicine .......................................................................................... 65 Broken Ocean....................................................................................................... 71 The Myth of Cleanliness ...................................................................................... 76 SECTION 6 ORGANA SENSUUM ................................................................... 82 Bodies Exhibit – Nervous System ....................................................................... 83 Mesocarp ......................................................................................................... 84 Science Says......................................................................................................... 85 I Am the Bull in the China Shop .......................................................................... 86 Plasmodesmata ..................................................................................................... 87 The Electrical Eel ................................................................................................. 88 When Death Becomes White Noise ..................................................................... 89 Kenyan Runner .................................................................................................... 90 Navigating Iowa ................................................................................................... 91 Just a Snake ......................................................................................................... 92 Dementia ......................................................................................................... 93 Winter Stream ...................................................................................................... 94 SECTION 7 CLINE ............................................................................................. 95 Becoming Caretakers ........................................................................................... 96 SECTION 8 INTEGUMENTUM COMMUNE .................................................. 116 Bite the Bullet ...................................................................................................... 117 Skinning Pigeons ................................................................................................. 118 Stretch Marks ....................................................................................................... 119 Blood Beetle......................................................................................................... 120 The Barrier of Skin .............................................................................................. 121 iv Brief Animal Encounters ..................................................................................... 122 My Mother’s Hands ............................................................................................. 124 Camber Inward..................................................................................................... 125 Lonely Heart Metaphors ...................................................................................... 126 Birding Ada Hayden Heritage Park ..................................................................... 128 Gullar Movements ............................................................................................... 129 How to Organize Recollection ............................................................................. 130 Growth ......................................................................................................... 133 Breath of Life ....................................................................................................... 134 To the Soul ......................................................................................................... 135