While I bleed

Donna Dallas

Passersby 

pass 

none stop

not even to peer 

into this gaping hole 

that was carved 

into my bloody breast

What would they see

if they troubled themselves 

to have a looksee

some whirling veins

riddled with rust

a long bone 

piercing the meat 

of my body

Some seared flesh

from all the men who’ve burned

through me

I don’t even know 

what’s in this dumping hole 

it’s a sinkhole ticking 

I stick my hand in

pluck out a rib

meaty and thick with grizzle 

No one seems hungry anymore  

in this burning city

I beg for my parts

to be pilfered

but I’m too maimed 

I’ll die pining for my own guts

thinking there’s still a fool’s gold

tucked deep within

Donna Dallas: Studied Creative Writing and Philosophy at NYU’s Gallatin School and was lucky enough to study under William Packard, founder and editor of the New York Quarterly.  Lately, she has published in Horror Sleaze Trash, Beatnik Cowboy and The Opiate among many other publications. She published her first novel, Death Sisters, with Alien Buddha Press. Her first chapbook, Smoke & Mirrors, will launch this fall with New York Quarterly. She currently serves on the editorial team for Red Fez and New York Quarterly.