Kristina Heflin
You of all people
when you clutch her
corpse to your breast
know the feeling
of wind whistling
through bone
now that marrow
is gone. Did your fingers
bleed as you pried
up rock and
splintered casket?
Her ghost knocks
on the window but the bed
is already so cold.
Hope and hate,
God’s two curses
keep me here.
You of all people
know the love in a
splintered heart.
***
Kristina Heflin is an Arizona State University graduate student, based in Northern Alabama. She has served on the editorial board of the literary journal Flumes and was Activities Coordinator for the Yuba College Literary Arts Club. She has been published in the literary journals Flumes, Canyon Voices, Fearsome Critters, and Diverse Minds, the websites 2Elizabeths, the write launch, and Underwood as well as the anthology The Beckoning. Future publications include Broad River Review, Duck Lake Journal, and Passaic/Voluspa. When she’s not writing, she enjoys horseback riding and Marvel comics.