What spills out from me:
vines, tentacled sea creatures
slick, dark green ribbons of kelp
chunks of whale blubber, red krill
foam and saltwater
pieces of my organs
barnacles, crusted claws of crabs
dregs of sorrow
from love’s decay
and from the absence
of the second child
I will never bear
whose food is sloughing off
whose tantrums
tear at my womb
from the inside
--Third place finalist, Poetry Society of Virginia 2024 Contest, Cenie H. Moon Prize
Vincent Van Gogh