Nicole Miyashiro, 3 pieces

Nude Photo of a Star
Sep 2014

The snapshot of my body stays
put, the rest of me advancing
in time just like everybody
else, just like every
body, except
bytes of me digitized
are glowing, are repeating
and repeating, disseminated
by fingers clicking
through counterfeit
tissue paper, searching
for that dazzling strand of jewels
that was slid from my dresser drawer
into a wide-mouth
duffle bag
as I slept. And every morning
since, I wake
naked,
stepping into a world
clouded in webs of pretending
that nothing was taken from my room
when no one was looking, while everyone
is looking at the shiny, unwrapped
body
I did not
give.

Virginity Test Required for Police Force Recruits
Indonesia, Nov 2014

Two broke in
with orders to search.
Every piece of clothing relegated to the floor. The two
started tearing around inside, while those next
in line cringed
naked toes in fear of those
fingers –
forcing their way in,

gel-slicked and flexing, two at a time to take
what could be stolen yet never
held.

And then
leaving
the sore confusion
of forced entry between
trembling, lock-closed
legs.

Pink Flamingo: A Fraternity Prank
Southern Mississippi, Oct 11, 2014

In the name of brotherhood
he broke a boundary
in the cover of night, broke
the fighting heart
of a mate, broke
skin and bone, and tore
feathers, he broke
away to the wall with a laugh, bounding
its modest request for respectful
distance, but
it was all in fun, he said,
the troubled-bellied bird
squirming
in his arms, he broke
her leg and then fled, took,
then left her body
in a path meant
for rugged cycles
of recreational
traffic.