Wilted Rose By Ryan Quinn Flanagan

    Thomas Hawk


​Wilted Rose
 
knew she was getting older
and that her charms
were now the charms
of others,
 
that both her sons were
in prison
because of meth
 
and that she had
meth tongue
because her teeth were gone,
that simple dry mouth
way
she would flick out
her tongue
like a salamander
and sit in chairs that had
always been
there
 
burning garbage
in the front
yard
 
and talking about
the cousins that had
once raped her
        
and how god was good
if you didn’t think about any
of the rest of it.

Ryan Quinn Flanagan is a Canadian-born author residing in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada with his wife and many bears that rifle through his garbage.  His work can be found both in print and online in such places as: Evergreen Review, The New York Quarterly, Word Riot, Anti-Heroin Chic, In Between Hangovers, Red Fez, Horror Sleaze Trash, and Your One Phone Call.

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