"Poem to a Body Gone Rogue" by Sheree La Puma

Poem to a Body Gone Rogue

This is a habit that starts in childhood.
I plant fear. Collect sharp edges.
A sliver of glass, a thumb tack in tall
weeds waiting for a foot. That paring
knife under my bed in a shoebox.
Things that hurt. Within the border
of two identities, I listen to lies spread
within communities. How they love
the variants. Left to guess what a heart
gives up when pulsing, I am a body
in the process of skinning itself.

SHEREE LA PUMA

Sheree La Puma is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in The Penn Review, Redivider, The Maine Review, Rust + Moth, and Catamaran Literary Reader, among others. She earned her MFA in writing from CalArts. Her poetry has been nominated for Best of The Net and three Pushcarts. She has a new chapbook, Broken: Do Not Use (Main Street Rag Publishing). www.shereelapuma.com

Headshot: Sheree La Puma

Photo Credit: Staff