hate
the sin
but
tell me again what choice she had?
a
world, plaited with wonder, muddied.
crayons
wept as her flesh burned
like
funnels from flues
slagging
black cotton sky;
her
body and mind divided—
armies
advancing under charred
points
of fish fin guidons, unfurled
and
pitched into the quickening.
she
slaked thirst with curdled wormwood;
sliced
her skin; stained garments with bloody
puss
chuffing thrums of festered ruin;
harvested the
sorrow of her one bedded thought,
a harrowing
increase of insomnia.
what could she do?
stride
into traffic
step
off an edge
touch
the third rail
or drag herself on
ragged knees,
and rave through
the streets of Gomorrah.
Gina Marie Bernard
Gina Marie Bernard is
a heavily tattooed transgender woman, retired roller derby vixen, and full-time
English teacher. She lives in Bemidji, Minnesota. Her daughters, Maddie and
Parker, own her heart. Her chapbook Naked, Gettin' Nuder was a 2018-2019 Glass
Chapbook series finalist, and has been accepted for publication by Clare
Songbirds Publishing. Her work has recently appeared in r.kv.r.y quarterly, The
Hunger Journal, Waccamaw Journal, Rat's Ass Review, and Jet Fuel Review.
Tags:
Poetry