A Poem by Diane Martin

Shutting the Door

behind which lurks prince or tiger,
equally dangerous. We are meat

for both, me and my conjoined twin
who wears her heart outside her body,

slung beneath the shoulder
so easy to grab, bite, break.

So we are keen to let the door stay
latched and fastened with a chain

though who’s to say if what shields
us also locks us in.

Diane Martin’s poems are forthcoming or have appeared in Kenyon Review, Field, New England Review, and many other journals and anthologies. Her first collection, Conjugated Visits, a National Poetry Series finalist, was published by Dream Horse Press.

The Poetry Section is edited by Mark Bibbins.