Backwater
I want to be a hardwood, splintery and tough
to split. I am green persimmon bitter. I am
acorn bitter. I want you to remember
me like a hornet sting, itchy hot
and bothering. I am a hook barbed. I want
to be like lightning striking near you, a close
hit, throw you on your back with plasma
and proximity. Too hot for the nerves. When I was
caught in thorns, my mother taught me to bull-
dozer through: tear the branches
tearing you. My legs are fresh
with cuts. I want to leave you walnut-
dry in the mouth. I have a skull thick
as the backside of an axe head.
This is how I know to
love you.
Allison Parker is a third year MFA candidate at the University of Memphis with a focus on fiction. Originally from Dover, Tennessee, she holds a BA in English and philosophy from Austin Peay State University. She is a past participant of The Frost Place Conference on Poetry. Her fiction is forthcoming from Moon City Review.
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