Phrenology - C. S. Matthews - Bog

they measure millimeters of bone
to tell us who we are
where we come from

the curve of my incisors
my orbital sockets
hold pools of blue
despite their shape

I am a mixed thing
with an under bite hiding
the gap in my teeth

I broke the extra bone in my foot,
feet whose ancestors were removed
by hands whose decedents counterfeit art
in styles that were stolen

I am a mixed thing
who dreams in a language
I'm learning to speak
from a tongue that was colonized
at birth...

how will you measure me?