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  • Issue 25 Poetry

Published by Associate Editor on February 24, 2015. This item is listed in Issue 25, Issue 25 Poetry, Poetry

The Tattooed Lady

One tattoo is a reminder of the guy
whose throat you slit.
That’s a red slice
not a wayward smile.
And, with belly button,
those eyes make three.

gautierdagoty_anatomyofawomansspineAnd here’s another pattern on your shoulder,
a heart this time.
You like having a heart there
where you can see it.
Better than behind your rib cage.
There’s an arrow through the initials, MK.
But that’s because the tattooist
was struggling with the jagged dagger you requested.

A devil straddles your spine.
It’s a she of course:
well-dressed but horned,
left foot in high heels,
the right one cloven.
And both ankles boast
a bloody image
from the loser you stomped on
in the bathroom of that punk club.

Your body is a history
of all you’ve done,
what makes you who you are.
And it’s not done yet
with its illustrations.
Every suffocation,
each poisoning,
will get its moment in the needle’s glare.

But then there’s the guy
whose skin you totally flayed.
You’re having a tough time
replicating that one.

 

 

 

John Grey is an Australian born poet. Recently published in Oyez Review, Rockhurst Review and Spindrift with work upcoming in New Plains Review, Big Muddy Review, Willow Review and Louisiana Literature. 

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Published by Associate Editor on February 24, 2015. This item is listed in Issue 25, Issue 25 Poetry, Poetry

Lost in the Forest

bog
there is no key, just
an infinite number
of doors turned
inside out, each one
creating a black hole
full of white noise
and closing into empty
dreams where doves die
forgotten on rotten limbs,
their songs remaining
unsung by toads spitting
insects from their lips

 

 

A one-time beginner yo-yo champion, state fiddle and guitar champion, teacher, and certifiable eccentric, John Reinhart lives in the Weird, between now and never, collecting and protecting discarded treasures, and whistling combinations of every tune he knows. His poetry has recently been published in The Vocabula Review, Apeiron Review, Songs of Eretz, Star*Line, Liquid Imagination, 94 Creations Journal, and Interfictions.

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