Hangnails & Other Poems

A couple poems originally written for my creative writing class.

Hangnails

Plates chip and make naked grooves

Like glass, they crack,

shatter—

Like a break-in scene, shards sharp,

each sliver.

Oh, to lick lacquer,

to clamp cuticles.

The thread of skin to pull

and rip

into a winding red river.

To scrape with only fingertips—

the chalkboard screech turns smooth.

Layered paint keeps the bed sturdy,

But my aching mouth, clippers for teeth

so needy, clicking.

My once-elegant claws

shrivel into stubs.

Bright Clean Birds

Your beak,

bowed to chest

Your feathers,

groomed with honey and spit

You rest on your twig pew

As your scarlet tufts

rage against orca sky.

You slurp worms in secret,

Crafting beds out of street mud

and broken sticks,

All to hold

the last minutes of your snoozing youth.

Hear the pointed crow

sing jealous jeers

As he longs for your

careful flute solo

While your window audience

Jerked from the corners of their sleep

Longs to cork your velvet trill