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Plumbing

once, something sheltered
under my left hipbone

my lover found it with open hand,
blood filling her palm lines

once
a man brimmed me with trust++++++++and future

and yet, no more. end of everybodything.
lover of mine demands, when
demands, whose bones are these

my body holding such hollow

once, my friend overcooked a turkey,
pulled the top off whole to reveal splintered ribs
among gaped and steaming openness

we laughed at such a vulnerable state

lover with my blood
in both hands
stands demanding to know the name
of this found brokenthing
with the indignity of a woman
who has never crouched in front of her toilet
to divine, like tea leaves,
what happened

Emily Blair is a queer Appalachian poet and blue-collar scholar originally from Fort Chiswell, Virginia, which you may have driven through. She teaches community college and keeps plants alive in Charlotte, North Carolina.