"Partition Custom," an excerpt from Jace Brittain's Cura (Lavender Ink, 2027), has been paired with an ensemble from Glenn Martens' stunning debut for Maison Margiela: his 2025 Fall/Winter Artisanal haute couture collection. This particular look pairs a form-fitting fluid gold-metallic velvet fabric wrap top with a floor-length skirt of recycled leather inspired by sixteenth century Flemish floral wallpaper. The signature Margiela mask was crafted from crushed metal boxes by Swiss-Chilean artist Lucas Emilio Brunner. Heavy with "lead glazed / glas armor," Brittain's 'partitioned' speaker of leaks and whistles drowns in a ghostly bath of gold chain and "noise-producing organs." Brittain calls Cura a "poetic exhibition of marvels: a dissonant book-length ekphrasis of the Museum of Jurassic Technology."
— Paul Cunningham, Editor
PARTITION CUSTOM
Partition Custom (1190)
Recycled flemish leather, gilded & embroidered tin crush mould
net,,, a lyfe (in mine
cage veil,,, a bridd)
my skin halfd
vinegar pyled
& bury d in antioch
Or intier organs in tarsus
i try sort a ekeout
a whistle
between bones
of our fingers
buggy i noise-produce-
ing organs
ruffle my feathers
to buzz, pull taut
this gold chain
which threads
the piercings
of face they find
with my body spent
i d o wn s t r e a m
iscream iate
lead glazed
glas armor
i drowne d in
an attempt to bathe
but upright me
heavy pull
by measure of
these shining links
i puppet away
if you sing
my songs
i forgot
to curse
my earrings
undererd
i turnover
Jace Brittain is the author of the novel Sorcererer (Schism 2022) and the forthcoming book of poetry Cura (Lavender Ink 2027). Recent writing and translations can be found in Annulet, Mercury Firs, Tyger Quarterly, Ritual Dagger, and Peel Lit. They live in Louisiana where they teach creative writing and insect literature at Nicholls State University and serve on the board of directors for the New Orleans Poetry Festival. With the poet and bookmaker Rachel Zavecz, they run the small press Carrion Bloom Books.
