Dud Helix (Fragment)

VIRGINIA M. HEATTER

As in unborn. As in misfire. As in some god had a .357 and the safety got stuck full metal languor in the chamber. As in the word still lodged between glistening folds of a massive right lung. As in Speak! As in fist under the ribs just like in the diagram and pull and pull and nothing Virginia M. Heatter will be pursuing an M.F.A. at Cornell University in the fall. Her work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in The Cincinnati Review, Third Coast, 32 Poems, FUGUE, Cranky, and has been reprinted online at Poetry Daily. TLR Web home page