Sonora Review: Outline for Breaking My Bones

artwork by Shannon Taylor

A version of this piece was first published in Sonora Review, March 2026

Outline for Breaking My Bones 

1. Where to break is to begin 

   1.  a tectonic plate promises a shift

      1. Greek: tektōn “carpenter, builder”

      2. as a point where things start to change

2. Where to break is to loosen 

   1. slip free of old restraints, constraints

      1. Italian: stringere “to draw tight”

      2. as a sail that is lowered because the wind is no longer needed

3. Where to break is to infiltrate, interrupt 

   1. a system breached

      1. Old English: brecan "to divide solid matter violently into fragments”

      2. as a whale to its sky

4. Where to break is to reform

   1. alter a trajectory, improvise, jazz-up

      1. Mandingo: jasi “to become abnormal or out of character”

      2. as an inlet pushes away from the ocean 

5. Where to break is to celebrate

   1. a gash filled with gold

      1. Japanese: kintsugi = kin “gold” + tsugi “join”

      2. as a closure reveals an opening

6. Where bones are beliefs

   1. notions held to be fact, foundational bases 

      1. Latin: factum "an event, occurrence” good or evil

      2. as truth is a school of fish

7. Where bones are a calcified material

   1. stuck in a surrounding

      1. Old French: fosse "ditch, grave, dungeon" 

      2. as a fossil records what was

8. Where bones are a thing to grind

   1. in order to reach the food

      1. Cree: pemmican = pemmi "meat" + kon “fat”

      2. as a bear eats the whole thing

9. Where bones are many that make up a whole body

   1. painted in skin like a lacquer veneer 

      1.  Sanskrit: Lākshā "one hundred thousand" 

      2. as the insects that swarm and secrete resin

10. Where bones are a ship

    1. that sails into an afterlife, passing other ships in dark tide

       1. German: Ende "the opposite side" 

       2. as we all journey to die    Together