Tonight's Poet Corner: Scratching

Scratching
by Belinda Roddie

scratching at the
peeling calluses on my
weeping feet, I was
drinking a bourbon
melting on my lips while
watching Saturday Night Live
laughing at its own jokes, when

knocking on the door was a
sobbing brown-haired girl
clutching a teddy bear
drooping stuffing from its
beading eyes. After
calming her down by
feeding her a cookie, I got to
asking her why she was
crying. To which she said,

"begging your pardon, sir, but
being abandoned, I'm lonely and
itching all over my arms and legs, and I can't stop
scratching."