by Jenna Hren
Tattered wings
Absorbing light
Jackie flies over the cityscape
With coin slots hidden beneath her feathers.
Punch her with brass knuckles
Hear that rattle and clinking within;
The manifestation of monetary motivations
For a 19 year old bride
Internet shopping for $25 wedding bands
And sparkling grape soda;
Will she wear white or show sin
In her favorite green lace gown.
“Her ovaries are screaming”
“Her feminism is screaming”
Jackie’s soft edges bleed into the air,
Her black mane turns gray as the math
Of student debt bubbles and rises in her brain.
Jackie laughs like Adonis and lives like Aphrodite
Her wrist is stripped and she doesn’t care to hide it.
In 8 years time I’m sure Jackie will die
With that $25 wedding band upon her finger
And the knowledge that the lips of her lover
Have stained another.