Poetry by Grace Phillips

              ​Alexandra Frolova CC



Haikus for the Bull in the China Shop

Church bells are ringing
in your honor, but you don’t
hear them now, do you? 

I think it’s funny
that a bull like you could have
a heart made of glass. 

What turned you into
this bull in a China shop?
Which of us broke first?

Cracks in your glass-blown
skin give way to stone beneath,
you had to get tough.

What choice did you have?
Bullheaded pipsqueak, fighting for
your life, don’t shatter.

You were made of glass
long before my hands found you.
Somebody broke you,

Didn’t anyone
read the sign? Fragile: Handle
With Care, Contains Glass.

People can help you,
you know, just let them inside.
The bull in you can 

be set free, I swear.
There’s no need to hide behind
your China shop walls. 

Church bells are ringing
in your honor, but you can’t
hear them now, can you? 

The sound of broken
glass is too loud, the bull’s blood
staining glass windows

across the walls of
the church we loved and can’t
find our way back to.

​



Track Two: Poem as Texts I Sent to Her Before She Died

Hey Queen I need your knowledge
                                                                 This is gonna make me sound like the literal worst person
                   Is your roommate there?
        Hello Julia
tell Julia I wish I was
high and
               drunk and
                                    buried.
                                    I have to tell you something. Can I tell you something?
I think you need to call the police.
                                                                                      Smoking kills you but you look hella cool doing it.
Hmm
    whack
                okay
                         okay
                                  okay
                                           whack
                                            k K. Okay kay Ok Kk
Hey sorry I forgot to reply
                        forgot to reply to this
sorry got busy and didn’t see this
                                                                        didn’t see this sorry
                                                             ok sorry
                                                 sorry sorry sorry
Yikes I’m sorry
are you still mad at me
You’re such a fucking bitch sometimes.
Keep it. Whatever it is, I don’t want it.
Is everything okay? Hey I haven’t heard from you in awhile. Hey. Hey. Hey. Just checking in :)
Your mom called me again. 
Where are you?
                            people are getting worried
Hey call me back when you get this.
                                                                                                     Please call me back.
Goodnight Goodbye Goodnight Goodbye Goodnight
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
What did you do? 
                                                                                                                  I miss you.
                                                                                                               -Message Undelivered-

​

​
​
Grace Phillips is a writer and MFA student from Indianapolis, IN. She is currently a graduate student at Butler University, and spends her free time petting her cats, starting conversations with strangers, or bothering her siblings. More of Grace's work can be found on her website gracewritesbooks.com.