Lauren Kells is a graduate of Lipscomb University with an English major. She presented her poetry collection, “same ball of light” at Sigma Tau Delta’s 2023 International Conference and her work has been published in Periphery Art and Literary Magazine, Applause Journal, The Passionfruit Review, and Quibble.Lit.
full stomach
you ask me what I wish for
what I want most in the world
i don’t know how to tell you
that all I really want is to grasp your worst
pain your most horrific memories
the ones that are too sharp
to hold without bleeding
in the palms of my hands holding what i can
letting the rest overflow all over me
i’m absolutely starving for this
sometimes you spoon-feed me little bites
of tragedy but it’s not enough
you don’t want to make me sick
but the human stomach has been known
to dissolve batteries razor blades and coins
if you give me bigger bites
I promise to liquefy your sorrows too
i’ll wait until you’re asleep
snatch your pain away swallow it whole,
claws, teeth, and all
perhaps it’ll fight
and tear at my throat on the way
but i will force it down
and every terrible thing that ever has
or ever will happen to you
will lay miles away from your heart
buried above my large intestine
in the graveyard of my stomach
you are safe,
so i am satiated.