Button nose buried her underbrush sinews
Haptic eyes glued to her gullet overhead
The looming crib ducking sporadic
Behind hunger-punched gums
A fleshsick hound lay dying in this swamp
Eager snout misled by cottonseed
Swept into the ovoid shell
lain into your fivehead soft-like,
Minding you unloosed
from your iron collar reaching
For gutborne shortening such as this
Close both eyes say a prayer
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Contributor Notes
Jenna Lyles is a multi-genre writer and recent graduate of The University of Alabama’s MFA program, wherein she taught creative writing and served as an assistant editor for Black Warrior Review. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in Rattle, Juked, Breakwater Review, Sinister Wisdom, and other such publications. You can find her at jennalyles.com.
