Poem of the week: 7th Nerve by Rhiannon Hooson | Poetry
7th NerveBell’s palsy is a neurological condition resulting from damage to the seventh cranial nerve, and typified by partial facial paralysis and pain on one side of the head.Show me your teeth. Can you lift your arms?Try to smile. Close your eyes. Swallow.Dive into the dark water. Lie stillwhile the machine passes around youand a voice reaches you from another roomwhere music is playing.Is it just that side?Plosives soften to nothing. Language leaksfrom the corners of my mouth. All nightmy eye tries to see into the…