Nina Keen
Its sides are smooth like the underbelly of a stone worn down by erosion. Dark mahogany colors its hard surface, that is flanked by bronze protrusions. It is a geode, waiting for its shiny opal insides to be revealed.
When they are uncovered, a soft thing will be placed inside it. Once this happens, the coffin will have to hide its pearly flesh forever. It will be lowered into the hard dirt, where it becomes a dusty brown that splinters. A rock that no one would dare dig up, let alone crack open.
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Nina Keen has a Master’s degree in English from Loyola Marymount University, LMU, and currently lives in Los Angeles. Her poem, “Aspartame,” has been published in LA Miscellany. In addition, she won Second Place in LMU’s Graduate Poetry Contest for her poem, “Coffin.”