In the Valley of the Breasts
Haley Guariglia Mother is full of fear surgeon couldn’t quite cut out healing with large scars to tell the story of pain, age and waiting there is a cryptic message within the concave sockets perfection that has something to do with a darkness arms lay limp at the side, cannot be raised above the threaded black sutures the nipples have gone missing discarded with the other flesh that toyed with PalB2 when I found out my aunt had one breast I was young and floored by the falsie she wore in her bra making two perfect mounds underneath her shirt cancer knocked again and she was breastless so much reconstruction needed to repair the missing parts isn’t that always how it goes? Woman strive to make their bodies home. Are there nights ahead of sleeping on your stomach unencumbered does the suture always leave a trail of seams. The reminder you once were dressed only in skin held close to the chest |
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About the Author: Haley Guariglia grew up in the creeks of Columbia, Missouri, and currently resides in Kansas City, Missouri, with her boyfriend and an eighteen-year-old cat, Fedora. Her interests include interpretive dance, bugs, costume creation, and reading aloud. Her favorite poet of 2016 is Kate Marvin.
