24 Aug Jennifer MacBain-Stephens
Posted at 11:11h
in Poetry
CHRYSALIS
bloody mandibles
black spider follicles
hot iron away placid
third torso sex parts
the triangles, ovals
and smarty pants winged bits
A quiet carp floats into frame
take a picture
it’ll last longer
Sea life tells me fuck off
I don’t belong here
my woman chrysalis
hardens then explodes all over
the DNA covered hotel bedspread
a second rate calamity gift horse
I stretch my bug legs. Who knows
how many digits I have?
How many lives did I ruin
to get it right? I rub
the front two sections together
fire up my combustion ticket
find a fresh green leaf
massacre it in pixelated time
the hunt is on: I will be
prey or mounted on cork
whichever comes first
I’ve got two weeks, tops,
to figure it out.
Jennifer MacBain-Stephens is the author of Your Best Asset is a White Lace Dress (Yellow Chair Press), The Messenger is Already Dead (Stalking Horse Press) and We’re Going to Need a Higher Fence. Her work has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. She is also the author of nine chapbooks, including the recently released She Came Out From Under the Bed (Poems Inspired by the Films of Guillermo del Toro) from Dancing Girl Press.
