it starts with love, or a lot of like
he’s crazy cute, right?
he’ll say anything to make you let him
it takes you by surprise
even though you know how it works
hoping it wouldn’t ≠a plan to prevent it
you don’t tell anyone
then you tell everyone
have it, don’t have it
here’s the number of the clinic
i’ll drive you, myself
it’s out-of-state
if you don’t have it, you’re a murderer
puzzle of the day: if that thing in your stomach
has no brain and no heart, why is it more
important than you?
because you have no value
except to bear things
you’re an incubator
an earthen vessel
an now, with a thought to your
own future, a killing machine
a false assassin
Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash
Anne Leigh Parrish
Award-winning writer Anne Leigh Parrish’s next novel, an open door, will be published in October 2022 by Unsolicited Press. Recent titles from Unsolicited Press are the moon won’t be dared, a poetry collection, October 2021, and a winter night, a novel, released in March 2021. She is the author of seven other books. She has recently ventured into the art of photography and lives in the South Sound Region of Washington State. Find her online at her website, Twitter, Facebook, Medium, Instagram, Linked In, and Goodreads.
