Blackbirdan online journal of literature and the artsSpring 2011 v10n1
BRITTANY CAVALLARO

White-Armed Persephone Walks Into His Van

            She stripped wisteria off the pronged
poles. Wednesday. The mistake garden
                        plot by the Stop-n-Shop on Grand

            where they wait. Pumping premium into her
pickup, she decides to yes the next man
                        who asks. Her knees

            above her kneesocks guarantee. Her
riding skirt rising as she reaches for
                        flowers to dress her mother’s table. When

            her daughter is an open feast. When
she leans to squeegee her windshield
                        and the tattooed man reaches out then

            under. His white van idles louder. When
the bird-whistles across the highway
                        open her in her car. The pistils

in her glove. She always knew she’d go
            quietly. The hidden knives agree.  end