THE [ ] WIFE
the wife is a disguise/a crane/a fox/a fish/a seal
whose skin is left on a rocky inlet/
who plucks out each of her opulent feathers/
who sweeps the floor with her tail/
who cooks her own limb for the soup
& the sack of rice/the cupboard/her womb
fills and refills & the man owns her & she
owes him sustenance/sex/money/
immortality/offspring/death
& she disappears into the waves/wind/hills
leaving the man a box of gold/her eyes/a child/
her fat magical heart
Published by The Pinch, 41.2, Fall 2021.
