Pink
Chrissy Martin | Poetry
I want to wield the loud click of heels
every day. I hate the way my pain keeps
me from being as pink as a pickled egg,
as feminine as dragon fruit skin.
Since learning it is not a prize
to be unlike other girls, I’ve wanted
to wear ribbons on all my socks.
To get through another gray day I take
pills Neptune blue, primrose, white;
if only they were all a brilliant rose. If only
glitter wasn’t bad for my gut health, the ocean,
I would shimmer my pills, spread them
by the bucket on my doorstep like palm leaves
to walk over when I have to leave in flats.
Chrissy Martin is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Poetry at Centenary College of Louisiana. She holds a PhD in poetry from Oklahoma State and an MFA in Poetry from Columbia College Chicago. She is the Poetry Editor and a founding editor for Arcturus. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Harpur Palate, Cherry Tree, Crab Creek Review, and Carve Magazine. Find her at chrissymartinpoetry.com.