Nicole Markert
ODE TO BOA HANCOCK
i am the product of eve embracing the snake / one over each shoulder / tell my island of ladies / get the fuck up off their knees / & hiss / teach them men are just rats / with their tails caught beneath red bottoms / fresh blood matches them perfectly / along with my top / that plunges like the sea between my breasts / these heels are meant for crushing skull caps / let my pets slither though their eye sockets / wear them as hats i bring new meaning to drop dead beautiful / my golden snake hoops shine / in the reflection of gun barrels / bullets are just pebbles / with a pink sticky lip gloss kiss / spit in your face / let me know how it tastes / know only the devil’s son can tame me / snarl & snatch smoke with my bare hands / hold you up by your neck / lift my head so high / touch islands in the sky my pointer finger crushes you into the bedrock / call me a government dog / but I do what I have to / so my girls never know / dirty rags between their thighs / the burnt smell of their own branded flesh / the chafe of chains on their necks / drape my black hair over my back / it is the only lie I will ever tell / let them believe / a demon resides in the bones of my spine Nicole Markert is a bisexual poet and a recipient of Eastern University’s Thyra Ferre Bjorn Creative Writing Award. Her work has been featured in Kissing Dynamite, Rust + Moth, Furrow, SWWIM Every Day, and Glass: A Journal of Poetry. She is a poetry reader for Split Lip Magazine and a double degree candidate at Rosemont College. You can find more of her work at nicolemarkert.com.
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