by Kristen Brida
Imagine a peach suddenly realizing there’s
a worm eating at him Imagine a mermaid
on land in search of a wheelchair Imagine the slow
then sudden breath of an arctic freeze &
a goose with her hatchlings turn to
natural taxidermies & you Imagine a teen
in love & forgetting Imagine you ring out
your cochleae & realize that silence does not
equate to a lack of sound when Imagine washing
your face with melted wax & looking
in the mirror when Imagine taking a bath, falling asleep
& waking up with a gun in your mouth when Imagine
your palm turning into a ghost when you Imagine
live eyes overlapping
w/ dying eyes & then Forgive me,
I can only begin the image
& not end it. I was gone
before I could see it for myself.
Kristen Brida’s work has previously appeared or is forthcoming in Lockjaw Magazine, Moonsick Magazine, Bone Bouquet, and Glass: a Journal of Poetry. She is currently the assistant editor of So to Speak, a feminist literary journal. She tweets @kissthebrida.