Tonight's Poet Corner: Swiss Army Jack

Swiss Army Jack
by Belinda Roddie

Jack jams a corkscrew
into a bottle-necked nosebleeding
nobody's crown, pops it off,
pours wine thick enough to stop a
heart from beating. Snips a flash of
ribbon before it runs too quickly
down the inside of his lover's
infected thigh. Tightens the syringe
and straps his wrist to the table,
so the blade moves faster,
brighter, the smell dripping off his
chin, sweetening his breath,
mint cells bubbling from his palm
as he snaps the red-wrapped death trap shut.

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