Carving the Madonna by Charlotte Brookins (Missouri, 20)

​Hide me within your walls
so I won’t be seen
stuff my mouth with
spare fabric
and bind me so I can’t
            move / prove your Goddamn point.

​Take away my sight
            carve out my eyes
            until all you can
see is the space behind them
and replace them with glass shards
            that sparkle and pop and gleam
and never hear me / scream.
Reach your hand down my throat
            and push the scraps down with it
            until you’ve clogged the cavity
            within my ribcage / stage me
            stuffed in the front yard.
And when little girls walk
past make me your
warning
            (tell them that this is what they
            have to be / and will never be / andwillseeinthemirrorinthedark—)
your goal / my soul not in sight
            while I rage against the dying
            ​the dying of my light.
                       //





Charlotte Brookins is an Iowa City-based writer who has loved both reading and writing for as long as she's been able to do either. She is an avid creator of all genres, but when she's not writing or reading, you can find her spending time with her loved ones or getting lost in the woods.