"Bougainvilla" by Lauren Dostal
I sat among the bougainvillea branches eyeing each 1-inch thorn tickling my various limbs and listened to the voice crying from the back door.
"You'll eat your foot if you don't get back here!"
I glanced down at the rubber sole, already gnawed away in anxious habit. Shoes are an irreplaceable barrier to my nervous jaw.
"Hybiscus" by Lauren Dostal
Hibiscus flowers look like gunshot wounds
Splayed across the front side of your house
But perhaps this is only because
I remember the way your body looked
Pale white in a two piece swimsuit
Lying spread eagle on the lawn
Dwarfed by your giant red beach towel
"Diet" by Lauren Dostal
Whenever I diet
My body tricks me
Into believing
That I am so hungry
I could swallow the
Entire refrigerator
In the middle of the night
Dragging my zombie body
Over the beige carpet
To the open doors
Blue light
Welcoming me
Like an old friend
Hello, dear freeze-dried
Ice cream tub
Of Ben & Jerry’s
Fish food
I missed you, too.
Hello
Week-old take-away
Half an old burger
Soggy bun
Beef hard as a rock
Tumbling around
In my starved gut
I’ll eat you, too,
Even though
I didn’t miss you at all.