POETRY
“Hate Box,” read by Tamara Nicholl-Smith.
Hate Box
It is a slow seethe and simper, a spit-hiss-whine, a scowl
lodged in the blood like a clot. I, a worm – dreaming
dragon, muster a sputter of steam, doused fire, soggy
ember. I pray for hands of lightning and the power
to smite. I want to strike the dapper snake dressed in a
hollow holy smile. God says: “Let me do my job,” but I,
like a kid playing dress up, don the judge’s robes and the
jury’s clothes. Verdict: we are both sentenced.
Tamara Nicholl-Smith’s poetry has appeared on two Albuquerque city bus panels, one parking meter, radio shows, a spoken-word classical piano fusion album, and in: America, Ekstasis, The Examined Life Journal, Kyoto Journal, Joi De Vivre, and forthcoming in Solum Volume IV. She is an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Saint Thomas (Houston). Visit her at tamaranichollsmith.com.
Next (Alex Hawkins) >
< Previous (Deborah J. Bennett)
Photo Credit: Malcolm Lidbury (aka Pinkpasty), CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Heart of Flesh Literary Journal 