The Shallow Ends
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My eight year old sister asks what hot means

7/11/2019

 
                      by Erika Walsh 

​What does hot mean is it the same as pretty
Is it the same as good
Which headband looks best with my skirt
How many boyfriends should I have
What is the normal amount
Once I had four whole boyfriends

If someone calls me hot should I run
Should I curtsey
I can see your mustache do all girls get a mustache
Do you know 8 x 3
No don’t use your fingers
No do it in your head

Do you like this picture I drew
It’s of you
I forgot to add your mustache
Can you hand me a crayon
Once I had a temperature
Once I had to stay home from school

Truth or dare
No say dare
Truth or dare
You’re not allowed to say truth

One of my boyfriends told my other boyfriend
He was going to punch him in the face
Then we all worked on our drawings
Does getting punched in the face feel like burning

Do your ears fall off after you die
Let’s play family
You can be the dog
You can be the little boy
Will I actually get to wear wings
Put this hat on
Good
Now you look like a boy

Can I bring you in for show and tell
The letter is E like for Erika
Can I bring you in for show and tell
The letter is S
Sister
Can I bring you in for show and tell
The letter is A can I bring you
Artifact
Alprazolam
I saw the bottle on your desk
Apparition
Appetite

I left food for you
And for the deer
You stood with them
In trees and ivy
Eyes yellow like an egg and cooked
A baby playing family
Hooved
The flies in your hair like a bow





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Picture
photo by Claire McClusky


Erika is a poet and co-founding editor of A Velvet Giant, a genreless literary journal. Her work has been featured in Hotel Amerika, Hobart, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Peach Mag, Dream Pop, and elsewhere. She was awarded a residency to attend Art Farm Nebraska this summer. She works in academic publishing and lives in Brooklyn with her pet cat, Willa. Find more here.​

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