Self-Portrait (a poem)

The Hatfield Clan 1897
family photo
men hold firearms

a feeling of revulsion
an animal past so human
a king smiling with a sword


shall I then be pictured naked
without muscle, sinew, bone

hang a landscape
with a mountain
with a forest
grain, waves, amber


can we find a phenotype
distinct from DNA
when we ask the questions backwards
for answers inside us

with the pots and all the kettles
cupboards, mantles both are bare