Blackbirdan online journal of literature and the artsFall 2017  Vol. 16 No. 2
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an online journal of literature and the arts
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back JESSICA FRANCK

Eve as 16-Year-Old Girl Who Eats an Earthworm on a Dare

He says I’ll wimp out.
I say part the earth
flexing the muscle

of my tongue to startling

effect. I am most tempted
when told I can’t or I won’t.
In gym class, I hurt him

when we’re the only ones

left running the PACER
test. I go & go faster until
we both collapse. I can’t help

proving him wrong. He says

vagina when he means
vulva. It’s in the root
of words, I recognize

I am made for spectacle.

Candy wrapper. Sword
swallower. I show him
the dictionary & discover

the definition for penis

is longer than my parts
combined. As if he means
more than me. I want to shake

his belief, take him in my hand

& demonstrate how his body
is built to deplete. He’s the wilted.
I wasn’t made so weak. Since I can

remember, I’ve been drawn

to morphology. I open
my mouth while I eat
to teach him what happens

inside of me. I halve

a worm between my teeth
and let both ends writhe.
Just like that, I multiply.  


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