Confessions
I’ve got the loveliest bones. Ivory sticks
______clink -clinking, bones
go with any outfit small enough not to cinch skeleton elbows,
knees creak when I walk, rivals run scared when they see bones coming—
______I’ve got the loveliest bones.
Toothpick-ing my place at the tented freak-show,
eyes comb over these blue-ribbon bones.
Cheeky endorsements by
Dove,
______Clinique,
____________Mary Kay
__________________Cover Girl
clink-clinging to Mark Ecko’s mirror mirror on the wall,
who’s got the loveliest bones of all? He’ll say,
______My dear you have the whitest bones,
____________the thinnest hair,
____________skin cold as stone,
____________eroding teeth,
____________a weak heartbeat,
____________chronic fatigue, but…
______you sure do have the loveliest bones….
Playhouse glass twists a sinister smile, s t r e t c h i n g my thigh gap for runway miles.
Skeletons waltz in my closet clink-clatter all night
______the mattress grinds my scorpion spine;
weak and lethargic these bones are so tired,
______calcium craters clank-clanking between a rock and my skull space
______the only place I feel at home is at Victoria’s Convention,
______viewers ooohhh and aahhhh
____________at my symmetry of structure,
__________________whisper to each other…
________________________she’s got the loveliest bones.
______________________________
Sarah McMahon is a senior at Bradley University majoring in English Creative Writing. Her poetry has appeared in the campus literary journal for 8 consecutive semesters, and has garnered attention at open mics in and around Peoria. One primary topic she explores via poetry is eating disorders – forms of which she struggles with personally. In addition to writing, she also runs Cross Country and Track for Bradley and enjoys life talks on long runs every Sunday morning.
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