Anti-Heroin Chic
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Music
  • Art
  • Comedy
  • About Our Contributors
  • Masthead
  • Issues
  • About our contributors - 2019
  • About Our Contributors - 2020
  • About Our Contributors - 2021
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Music
  • Art
  • Comedy
  • About Our Contributors
  • Masthead
  • Issues
  • About our contributors - 2019
  • About Our Contributors - 2020
  • About Our Contributors - 2021
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

​

8/8/2020 0 Comments

Poetry by Tessa Livingstone

Picture
                          ​Ross Griff CC



​HOW TO CLEAN YOUR HUNTING KNIFE

It’s impossible 
To open
When you need it
The most

So rinse it  
In water

The stream’s
Gleaming cold

To wash off
Breadcrumbs

Built-up rust

Feather fixed
To blade

Then dry it
On sleeve
And wrap it

In rags
Plain paper
A picture 
of Elvis 

And bury it 
Under cedar

Let the grass 
Grow over

Go away

When I go 
Away
I leave footprints

You can’t 
Track





THE FOREST SPEAKS FOR ITSELF
    
Can you admit:
               i. the wound                                                                                                                                   {yes}        
               
ii. your limb, lost to the trap                                                                                                    {yes}    


Did you believe that severing your own foot was:
              i. a necessary act                                                                                                              {yes}
              ii. an absolute blessing                                                                                                           {& yes}

Did you consider:
              i. the hunter                                                                                                                                   {yes}
              ii. his bloodhound                                                                                                                        {yes}

              iii. that whoever set the trap would come to set you free                                         {no}    

Do you:
             i. feel pitied                                                                                                                                     {no}
             ii. fancy yourself to suffering                                                                                                  {no}

They talk about you in town. They say:
              i. you wanted this                                                                                                {yes}
              ii. you willed this                                                                                                  {yes}
              iii. no one forgives you                                                                                                              {—}

                                                                                                                                  {Personally, when I                                                
                                                                                                                                            read that, I got
                                             
                                                                                                                                                   kind of scared.}


Mostly what I’m trying to say is:
              i. it hurts to look.                                                                                                                    {yes.}
              ii. I look.                                                                                                                                      {yes.}

Do you want:
              i. to make whole again                                                                                   {yes & yes & yes}


Then:
              i. choose your life                                                                                             {if I could just—}
              ii. crawl to it                                                                                               {if I could only just--}

Can you afford:
              i. to be naïve                                                                                                                           {—}

                                                                                               {How close am I to animal?}

                                            
             i. there’s a map to that place                                                                                         {yes--}
             ii. I can see its center                                                                                                   {yes--}
             iii. close                                                                                                 {—& getting closer}





Tessa Livingstone is a young poet who holds an MFA from Portland State University. She enjoys engaging the transformative & macabre in her poetry, which has appeared in Moon City Review, Water~Stone Review, South Dakota Review, Geometry Literary Journal, Five:2:One Magazine, Whiskey Island Magazine, and Portland Review, among others. She currently lives and writes in Austin, TX.
​
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    March 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.