Drawing by Judith Wolfe
Rebecca Lu Kiernan

Poems


      Pre-emptive

      I will have a rib removed
            And mail it to you
                 In a sanitary jar
                      Saving you
                 The trouble
            Of robbing me
      In my sleep.
            Incision
                 Is
                      Easier
                 Sewn
            Than the slow jagged
      Tearing
           Of stealing back
                 A bone.

      To The Bat I Have Thrice Beaten Down From The Attic

      Nimble squeal intumesced with ambivalence,
      you spiral the parlor violets slicing petals
      into veins, buttering mice for bread.

      What nullity is "hello"?
      Have you something left unsaid?

      To The Bat Living In The Air Vent

      Dear Bruce,

      1 have left you seven headless mice
      in the refrigerator next to the lamb
      and a silver starling in a cigar box
      decorated with shell shaped macaroni
      spray painted gold on the pie shelf
      next to ajar of fireflies.

      I miss you already.


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