Issue 22 - 1992

Coe Review • Issue 22
my three-sided wooden box
Jamie, what is this?
I don’t know, Mama
johnson grass and cattails poked up through the hole and I
shivered when I thought how much it would hurt if I were to
sit on one of those--
I was hoping she would not kick at it or pick it up, fearful she
would discover the contents inside
I reckon he did a good job, let’s go inside and eat
After supper I stuffed my flashlight into my cutoffs and
stumbled into the backyard, searching for the box
When I found it I poked the beam of light onto its floor and
was horrified to see small white bloated maggots writhing
in the shit my cousin and I had joyously made, their little bodies
twitching against the hollow stems of dying grass that
sprouted up through the hole, Our hole
I picked the box up and held it against my bare milkwhite chest,
moist pregnant commas wriggling against my naked skin,
engorging themselves, tickling me--
I carried it in my arms until I reached the backyard fence, then I
tossed it over into the alley, and when my mama called my name
from the back door the tears came, they came hard and I cursed her
as I slowly walked back to the house, I cursed her and the tears came
when I realized I hated her.
For my beloved Jamie X. Refraction
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