13 in a training bra
strutting the streets
of Myrtle Beach
I want you both back by 10
set them loose mesmerized
by electric glitter
glowing in the night air.
Enchanted and dizzy
she loses her friend in the sea
of tourists sweaty and porous
in the thick salty atmosphere
looming over her. She doesn’t see him
hunting while she searches through faceless faces
jerking her tiny body behind that dumpster,
I’m gonna fuck you, scream and I’ll snap your neck
slithers and sears through freshly pierced ears.
Savage hands grope beneath the
lavender Gap shirt Mom bought at the mall
yesterday, before this man, pressed hard into her
hip, hurriedly fumbling with buttons and zippers.
Remembering her brother on how to deal with bullies
she buries a knee in his intentions leaving him
crumpled and throbbing beneath her Candies smacking quickly over tarry asphalt blurring
past neon amusement rides souvenir stands cheap sunglasses baseball caps and fanny packs
photo booths cotton candy icy cones hot dog huts Putt-putt clowns crying babies adult novelty shops hot wind drags black streams down rose pink cheeks
lights gleaming in her tear tracks like lustrous slug trails
racing by the startled concierge into the marble hotel
down its damp kaleidoscope halls
vanishing behind the weighted door
and stainless steel lock
of 18.
