Mermaids

Lori Propheter


One

We keep our

legs under

 

blankets the

bones gleaming

 

in jelly like

concrete left in

 

a wheelbarrow

in the rain

 

the next day

leaves hang

 

under the surface

like beetles

 

under glass

 

Two

We dress in

fiberglass our

 

spun sugar

tongues our

 

foreheads messy

with welts we

 

film in secret

from knots in

 

plywood the

tops of milk

 

cartons the screen

door lets the

 

cool air seep

in we passenger

 

pigeon the night

 

Three

We drip dry

in the waiting

 

room our hair

shiny with fossils

 

moats circle the

automatic doors

 

our lockets leak

static the aisles

 

full of ashes

the tollbooths

come in waves

 

Four

We secretary

the morning

 

the intersections

full of bells

 

we slide right

through like

 

swords through

stomachs empty

 

yawn of space

the snakes

 

swallow everything


LORI PROPHETER lives and works in DeKalb, Illinois. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Poor Claudia, Storm Cellar, Sugared Water, and elsewhere. She is a poetry reader for GASHER Journal.