Couplet by Emily Zilber (’23-24) – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

Couplet by Emily Zilber (’23-24)

â€œCouplet

We started as one / next we / were two / then / became / threeâ€

A naked woman is sitting close to the ground, almost lying down. Two shapesâ€”concentric dashed circles divided in black, red, and white ringsâ€”resemble eyes or breasts. A face is split into three, so there are four eyes, three noses, and three mouths.

â€œThe first decision you made on your own / before you were you / before you were plural / before you knew what youâ€™d done / was to enter the world in multipleâ€

The head of a woman lying back wearing a hospital cap, looking up into the distance. Two hands grasp onto something abstract, flesh-like, prying open a hole in the center, out of which float spectral baby heads.

â€œIn those first moments / a few days, a week tops / we were two / and you were one / neither of you were yourselves yet / but you were, and had always beenâ€

The woman, Emily, looks at her reflection in two scenes. In two other scenes, her reflection is behind her, or beside her. Collections of cells gather in round shapes, expanding.

â€œIt was a delicate balance keeping things equal / for 37 weeks, I watched negotiations / one taking, one giving / once you were two / everything was sharedâ€

Two fetuses crouch next to each other in the womb, their heads each at the otherâ€™s feet. The two babies out of the womb suckle the teats of a wolf.

â€œThese days, Iâ€™m on the outside more / You live in separate bodies but as one person / you are yourselves but also each other / itâ€™s the two of you / then meâ€

Two girls hang upside down, facing each other and clasping hands; their long brown wavy hair cascade below them.

â€œYou try to make us one again / crawling up my body, fingers, hair, clothes / asking to go back to before / I am learning to be an indispensable third wheelâ€

The woman sits naked while her two naked daughters climb over and above her body, then scaling the wall behind her.

â€œCouplet We started as one / next we / were two / then / became / threeâ€ A naked woman is sitting close to the ground, almost lying down. Two shapesâ€”concentric dashed circles divided in black, red, and white ringsâ€”resemble eyes or breasts. A face is split into three, so there are four eyes, three noses, and three mouths. â€œThe first decision you made on your own / before you were you / before you were plural / before you knew what youâ€™d done / was to enter the world in multipleâ€ The head of a woman lying back wearing a hospital cap, looking up into the distance. Two hands grasp onto something abstract, flesh-like, prying open a hole in the center, out of which float spectral baby heads.

â€œIn those first moments / a few days, a week tops / we were two / and you were one / neither of you were yourselves yet / but you were, and had always beenâ€ The woman, Emily, looks at her reflection in two scenes. In two other scenes, her reflection is behind her, or beside her. Collections of cells gather in round shapes, expanding. â€œIt was a delicate balance keeping things equal / for 37 weeks, I watched negotiations / one taking, one giving / once you were two / everything was sharedâ€ Two fetuses crouch next to each other in the womb, their heads each at the otherâ€™s feet. The two babies out of the womb suckle the teats of a wolf.

â€œThese days, Iâ€™m on the outside more / You live in separate bodies but as one person / you are yourselves but also each other / itâ€™s the two of you / then meâ€ Two girls hang upside down, facing each other and clasping hands; their long brown wavy hair cascade below them. â€œYou try to make us one again / crawling up my body, fingers, hair, clothes / asking to go back to before / I am learning to be an indispensable third wheelâ€ The woman sits naked while her two naked daughters climb over and above her body, then scaling the wall behind her.

Published On: June 12, 2024

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