Fortune for the Tasteless Year
Where the numbness.
Means to dissipate.
Consolation pudding.
Would-lap tongue.
Lack.
You’re about to take an important journey.
But all I can think.
What punishment.
Which sin?
Rehearse hopefulness.
Around the corner from.
Clean slate a doctor.
Who will not see me.
Without an urgent voice.
I sound okay.
So naturally.
The body’s gift of empty.
Remains my own.
Extended holiday version.
No ribs for you!
Nicole Higgins is a PhD candidate in English at Duke University. She has received fellowships from Callaloo and Cave Canem. Her work has appeared in Pleiades, Storyscape, Bear Review, Sink Review, and elsewhere.
