A Kind of Silence
                  K. E. Ogden

 

 

 

 

A girl licks the ribbon
of scar at my belly I am
rolled down a hallway lights
just like flicker flicker
flicker something is cut
out of my body A girl
in Al-Anon cuts
up and down her
arms her inner thighs
at the hips wears
spaghetti strapped tank
tops blue jean cut offs
touches her breasts her
stomach during shares
A girl in CIA scrubs answers
a red telephone cord in
my mouth this thing cutting
out is lumps stones black-red
cells dried like tiny
brains A girl says my shirt
is ripped open bloody
cutting board taped
to my chest with duct
tape a cleaver splits
wood I was throwing up
too much to notice