murals

by Lora Robinson

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you know your history—
machines for suffering,
bare knuckle portraits you Picasso 
on the bedroom wall

tongue bitten, spit drunk
and flailing, metallic tannins
alive with the novelty of your own violence 

she tips the bourbon down the drain
double-barreled, melting joints 
your own blood shattering hot glass

the loneliness you laid on her pillow,
silky girls who never knew your name
spinal shrapnel scarred over

splintering 
years of it swallowing you whole
all the beautiful fires she set in the kitchen 
all the ashes of things held closer than you.

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Lora Robinson is a Maryland-born, Minneapolis-based poet, photographer and cat-mom to Shark and Thea. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in The Shore, Superfroot, and the San Pedro River Review, among others. She is a poetry reader for Cobra Milk. Her first book, An Essential Melancholy, will be published in Fall 2022 by akinoga press. Connect with her on Instagram @theblondeprive and Twitter @starsinmyteeth.