by E. Kristin Anderson

issue 71

a headache, the daughter

things started out in shells // I could see the quiet argument //
a bad summer to be temporary girls // all sick on the
beach // I never stayed before // voice wishful // right away,
a cold rain // I found acid sleep // some nightmare to change
my mind // that same old hole I ended up a lioness, guts
hung on the door // to darken skies, a little map // the path
of a pen-mark // rain // I remember the sand, eyes filled //
mostly calm, unmade // moonlight was the most peculiar
wound // hysterics thenceforward, clean in fire // drown
longer // these years I confess // I couldn’t feel the whole
thing

This is an erasure poem. Source material: King, Stephen. Dolores Claiborne. New York: Pocket, 1993. 176-186. Print.

all at once, little girl

the verdict was misadventure // at the end, an answer //
free, I hook eyes to the city // write the heart blameless //
voice all water // mouth a round hell // always in a movie //
strike me, electricity // just the news // nightmares // but
summer was cement // everything was mine // the deep sea
// the radio // the rest of my life // the bills // nights in a cold
sweat // skull like a brick // it surprises me // in the corners
// I’d close my eyes in that bed // me, a bitch // the world all
dark // only a bitch could have a soul // my whole life I was
watching in the garden // the truth strangest in the window

This is an erasure poem. Source material: King, Stephen. Dolores Claiborne. New York: Pocket, 1993. 322-331. Print.