At the remains of this 1884 prison, a cell photograph shows five or more inmates crowded into space intended for solitary “reflection.” After visiting the library nearby, I’ve often sat against the towering wall to nurse my baby, sensing the stone’s speech edging into my back along with the cold in all kinds of weather. I learned I had been intercepting the stones’ thoughts at the site of the gallows and “last hanging” described.

Lake Angela is a poet, dancer, and translator from Lake Erie. Her latest book is Scivias Choreomaniae (Spuyten Duyvil): Know the Ways of the Dancing Madness. Lake holds a PhD in intersemiotic translation and MFA in poetry. She is a medieval mystic, nonhuman creature, and proponent of schizophrenia spectrum creativity.

W: https://lakeangeladance.com/