Michael Hammerle
A shaky-handed-straight-blade
stranger, smiling in my face.
The veil, the lather, and
spooling me around like yarn.
Halfway listening–preoccupied
with self. That I cannot trust
cutting so close to my throat.
***
Michael Hammerle is pursuing his MFA at Bennington College. He holds a BA in English, cum laude, from the University of Florida. His fiction has been published in The Best Small Fictions 2017 selected by Amy Hempel. His prose and poetry have been published or are forthcoming from New World Writing, Chicago Literati, After the Pause, The Sandy River Review, The Matador Review, and many more magazines. He lives and writes in Gainesville, FL.