TR Brady

Phantom Topography: Implied Line

Phantom Mirror II

tonight we touch. grandiose
experience, that. my hand,
your hand, your hand, yes,
mine. the mirror
a sort of snare
drum. the field being
the bathroom, the players
being me. I yearn
the triptych fold in on itself
& leave me out of it.
knock twice for another
image. knock thrice for a better
image. I try to hold
my palm to yours.
the illusion, distance.
the form, other
dimensional.

Phantom Mirror III

I fear the woman of me, the landscape
of whom has been eager w/ change

time & geography I must find another

way to activate
her image, which has the mask of me, but none

of my secrets. I cannot judge their heft
but pinch my hip all the same.

Phantom Mirror IV

still growing, somehow,
the figure & her quiet architecture.
quick, too the sacrilege
I keep. trying to work the synth
of me, she extends some limb
or other—the gain,
high & freckled w impurities,
the source, inscrutable.

it is winter. I must keep
myself made in the good image.
physique being recourse
for which I have no paragon.

Phantom Topography: Implied Line

TR Brady is a poet, fiber artist, and editor from Arkansas. TR holds an MFA (’19) from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. While at the workshop, TR was awarded a Maytag Fellowship and a Teaching/Writing Fellowship. TR’s recent work can be found in Bennington Review, Copper Nickel, Denver Quarterly, and The Adroit Journal.