December 12, 2015

ADVENT DAY TWELVE: AMY PICKWORTH

Ripe

Barely past its prime, the fruit
is refused by the girl. Appreciate

the almost-perfect strawberry in winter, I chide.
Outside the temperatures are deficits.

Cold is leaking in around the windows
and the girl is so bored in her lush skin.

At the sink I cut out all the softest spots, bloodying
my hands with juice so she doesn’t need

to put something imperfect into her body.
Here I say, handing her a clean bowl

heaped with berries, each split open
to reveal its small pink cave of a heart.





Amy Pickworth’s book Bigfoot for Women was released by Orange Monkey Publishing in 2014. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island. You can find her at amypickworth.com.

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