Shrew. Fly. Don’t Bother Me

Rebecca Thrush

every night I make a rainbow on my plate

and fill his in an abundance of colors

it reminds me of you, and how you 

didn’t like       vegetables

 

even when my eyes were shrouded

by the glimmer from your teeth

I always wondered how a woman

tasked to raise a man of tomorrow

continually claiming her place

in the world of spirits and ether-reality

could possibly tell me she doesn’t

eat the full spectrum of mother earth’s gifts

 

and standing now at my counter

cutting reds and greens and purples

I realize it should have been my omen

of the dark duality in your nature

 

the shiny appeal of herbal remedies

was simply another fashion for you

fickle and vain, but veiled as fortune

 

your teeth may shine but they are pointed poisons

 

 

***

Rebecca Thrush appears in Open Minds Quarterly’s Summer 2020 issue: Queer Stories and online in Indolent Books’ COVID-19 Edition of What Rough Beast. She works in property management in New England but has had an undying love for reading, writing, and creating since childhood, hoping to find connections and explanations in this distinctly disconnected era of smartphones. When not working, she can be found testing out vegan recipes or adventuring with her loving partner and their cat Penelope.