She came out from under the bed by Jennifer MacBain-Stephens

She came out from under the bed

By Jennifer MacBain-Stephens

#1
 
She came out from under the bed  
and called the night winged things.
 
Sonar beasts flapped against windows
breaking the glass.
 
We thought we had a piece of her 
but it was the other way around 




#2
 
She came out from under the bed
her torn face jacket crumpled
charred pages shed commas
there was no end to stick
wrapped flickering persona body, 
distended cornea 
face 
open signage night
forming all 
fear vowels: 
A
I
E 




#3

She came out from under the bed 
Penelope unweaving my scalp 
and psoas muscle 
 
That way she 
 
could visit me every night 
      
undoing the work 
on me just to do it again 





#4
 
 
                                                                                                She came out from under the bed
                                                                                            like Alice clawing up rabbit hole dirt
                                                                                             She would never say, you and I, we
                                                                                                   went into darkness together,
                                                                                            pertaining to conversations about the
                                                                                            Minotaur, snipers, and the naming of
                                                                                          hurricanes: the business of acting alone 





#5
 
She came out from under the bed 
the others played it star struck
some tied her wrists
wrestled an autograph
sacked her head
 
tiny chicken scratches
                engraved the wood floor 
                                 some crouched behind chairs 
                                                 kept a lookout for hope 
                                                                mouths open skyward 
                                                                                sucking the flies in





#6
 
She came out from under the bed
insects and fog
skittering across abdomen
the patpatpat 
she transferred to me 
 
hear the wasps
 
she breathed a buzzing sound
it would not stop 
will never stop
 
this trying to get out



​

 About the author: Jennifer MacBain-Stephens went to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and now lives in the DC area. Recent chapbooks are out or forthcoming from Grey Book Press, Dancing Girl Press and Shirt Pocket Press. Her first full length collection is forthcoming from Lucky Bastard Press. Recent work can be seen or is forthcoming at Jet Fuel Review, Pith, Freezeray, So to Speak, Entropy, Right Hand Pointing, Chiron Review, and decomP. Visit: http://jennifermacbainstephens.wordpress.com/.

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