A Million Little Needles by Elisabeth J. Ferrell-Horan

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A Million Little Needles

A million little needles
is all I really have.
They sit innocuous,
used and glinting -
Bent biohazards behind
the glass
in a Plath Bell Jar.

Still as icicles
dripping silver - as
brown the silt of a coffee maker:

They only melt
as fast as my heart -
an untimely springtime glacier.

Or sometimes by an evil fire
of the winter undertaker;
he strokes my back
with his red hot lips
and his orange and purple fingertips -

Then stokes the banks with an arson’s breath:
a midnight spire, a ransom buyer -
tonight we’ll marry by the fire.

A million needles, ahh
‘tis all I’ll ever have -
an aimless intravenous;
a drip of promised land -
like a virgin’s coat in summertime
to defend my skin
from sinner’s hands.

Or could it?
infuse some poison-chemo-lies
into your vitriolic veins -

A bone-slow death of wit and wire
it's what you're in for after
I am done with you -

But not much worse than what
you've done beneath me
over the years.

See, machetes and guns are not my thing
you guessed it, I’m a woman -
a million little needles though,
for each true crime you caught me in -

I’ve got some
evil acupuncture on the mind, baby -
a green dream potion of my mind
corrosive, radioactive
a shelf life of spare time.

I used these little needles once
It's not important why,
You only need to know their used
and that they’ll make you die.

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Image - Stefan Lins
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrlins/

 Bio: Elisabeth J. Ferrell-Horan is a stay at home mom in Vermont raising two young boys, feeding her animals and dreaming in poetry. When not writing, she finds peace and inspiration working with her three very special horses: Deuce, Flynnie and Bees. They speak to her without using words.Elisabeth is a survivor of many things - most recently severe postpartum depression. She wants to tell all the mothers out there suffering in pain and perhaps alone, that they are good mothers, and that it is possible to get better, if they can just hold on, and find the right help. http://ejfhoran.weebly.com/

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