He called me beautiful
A cracked moon on a new night
He wanted to see my ugly, he said
As his fingers dug under the hem of my shirt and pulled down
Breasts firm and young like apples,
squeezing like he wanted to crunch them
Did he want to find my seeds at my core?
Plant a new me over and over?
I was hollow and confused, I thought, can’t you see
the ugly in my eyes when I look at you?
The skin of my hands were blistered from climbing
the tree the other day, the same tree I sat under,
kneeling below him as he kept digging for that ugly
in my mouth, his eyes closed shut, lips pressed tightly against mine,
painted red with young blood, tongue scratching the roof of my mouth
There’s the ugly, I said. There’s the ugly in my mouth
where his tongue touched mine.
Madison Reyes is a college student just trying to make it by in life. Her goal in life is to make an impact, no matter how big or small. She’s has been previously published in Persephone’s Daughters second issue.
