me and my body and my father talk dinner plans

miracle thornton

after Kaveh Akbar

plucking feathers from the bird still twitching
(found quiet, no God called in vain, no plead

just shiny and dripping as we open it
naturally) my father gives mercy between

the eyes and plugs the holes with salt and
herbs. we spread the bird’s legs and pull

everything out (a liver, egg, heart, mouse
rib, mouse jaw, used condom, worm

still wriggling, chunk of hair, curled tooth).
my body, she laughs

if i die don’t take from me this easy

my father says to make myself useful
so i teeth his breast for milk, suckle

‘til our stomach is full of spit and zinc.

MIRACLE THORNTON is from Franklinville, New Jersey. Her work has appeared in DREGINALD, the Interlochen Review, and UpNorth Lit. She’s received an Honorable Mention from the YoungArts Foundation, gold and silver keys from Scholastic Art & Writing and was a nominee for the American Voices & Visions award. She won second place in Princeton University’s Leonard L. Milberg ‘53 High School Poetry Prize.