horseshoe

honey soaked cornbread
wasp-spit

held under my tongue
                                                one minute
                                                                 then swallow

my father tells me I am blue
                                slick and hipbone clinging

                dryer sheets/ gnat wounds/
                               smell of/ hurricane earth/
                                                oranges/
               the second time I ever told someone I loved them

I am six
               and the swing taps the back of my head
                               again       and      again      and      again

the grass is shinbone height.

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Taylor Manning is a writer based in Leeds, UK. They received their BA in English Literature with Creative Writing from The University of Leeds. Originally from Tallahassee, Fl, their work often relates to the southern United States and commonly centers on themes of identity, the body, religious trauma, and sexuality. They place their work in the vein of Metamodernism and often utilize experimental form.