Getting To Know My Body
Jazzy DiMeglio
Bewildered as you lift my dead-beat elbow to study the sears
Underneath my arm and covering my swollen spine.
Red with warmth, red in blisters. I am
Naked before you and begging for more liquor
Instead of the anti-septic you insist on smearing.
Nothing compares to the soft sounds of your voice saying Let
Go, as I grasp your wrists and warn you: my body is fragile.
Breaking skin turns whimpers into curse words
Like the palm of my hand turns ice cubes into puddles. My
Oozing shoulders shudder while you wipe me down
Until I look clean, until I’m able to count to ten again.
Sarcasm seeps from my teeth though I believe in
Every inch of my bare, boiled body. It is exquisite.
10
A Degree in Tequila and Doubt
Casey McCullough
I’m not a writer,
I just drink a lot about it.
-Dessa
“Everyone and everything
You meet will be a teacher”
Raven barked at me
While I followed her dog prints
Through the falling snow
Two years ago.
And I feel like teachers prefer me
When I’m wrapped in curiosity,
Not toxicity that aches and
Blazes to the bone.
“Bodies” Eleanor Billington