SUPINE
I busted the spine
of the qpb book of irish literature
on page 697, the last page
of dante and the lobster
my favorite page
when I came home from the hospital
I did it on purpose
I was choking
on my own spit
and my own blood
until my mom straightened
my awful head
with her clean hands
It was not my fault
I spent 7 years
curled against the tomb
of my ex's wrath
like a still kitten
born the size of one bite
Happy that life is slow
Happy that death is slower
ALLEGORY
One that has many fruit flavors; one that has nuts and one that doesn’t; one with a maze, a crossword, a word search; one that is based on a candy bar; one that is good dry, for when milk is too expensive; one that gets soggy so quickly it requires little milk; one that is shaped for luck, love, magic; one that is organic as opposed to inorganic, perhaps; one that comes in a large bag; one with natural dyes and one without; a holiday version of one that is, in composition, not different from the usual; one that will give money to one lucky school; one that is and always has been shaped like an O.
I was glad when the bullet entered me through a box of Trix. It was good to have so many choices.
Amelia K. lives in Georgia with her son. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Dirt, Cordite, The Braag, ctrl+v, and others. Her website is bio.site/ameliak.