When I am Hungry.
By Robyn Joy.
“my thighs hang inward after I’ve starved them / and I still don’t have the gap / stomach too powerful to flatten / like the tire of my bicycle when I was 9.“
The Disco Melon by Paloma Rincón Rodriguez.
my thighs hang inward after I’ve starved them
and I still don’t have the gap
stomach too powerful to flatten
like the tire of my bicycle when I was 9
when I am hungry,
the lambs are no longer born of rams & ewes
but live within my P’s & Q’s
until my wet mouth releases saliva in wanting
like the watermelon that gets sticky, then itchy,
as it dries down my arm in the sun
in a memory I don’t actually have
the table knife sinks into the moldy rind
of my soft-cheese-abdomen
when it is warm
glistening with butter and honey
teeth aching with sweetness
sharp like a spoon to mercury
The Blood Pudding – June 1, 2023
Robyn Joy’s first chapbook, Tumbling Through, was published by Budget Press in early 2022, and her poems have been featured in in Humana Obscura, four volumes of Writers for Recovery anthologies, and Poetry Society of Vermont’s 2022 & (forthcoming) 2023 Troubadour, among others. She is founder of Rabbit &Wolf, which currently hosts a monthly poetry reading series at a local art gallery co-op and is a member of the Poetry Society of Vermont’s editorial board. Her poems tell personal stories in the context of nature, addiction, sexual identity, trauma, and chronic & mental illness. She resides in Central Vermont with her husband and their genius cat and finds delight in playing in the kitchen and communing with the natural world.
Artwork: Born in Mexico and based in Madrid, Paloma Rincón is a visual artist working across multiple disciplines with a strong focus in concept development and art direction. Paloma shoots photographic stills and directs moving image projects in a quirky style marked by bold colors and graphic compositions.You can find more about her here.