Aislinn Wilson

Like a Man

She swallows her bile like a man

Hands over her mouth

Golden phlegm

 

Slashing her gut like a soldier

Droplets of viscera travel

Entrails at foot

 

She laps at bloody palms

Like a dog

Like a saint

 

Removing her sandals

The prophet, she speaks

The ramble of the bramble tongue

 

Pins pressed to pupils

Like a king

She gouges and scrapes

 

She stands unrepentant

She lies awake

Like her father she breathes, “More weight.”