Bury me in a carboard box
Amazon already knows
the address, When I die
let me play spin-the-bottle
with all the boys
and girls I never got
to kiss. Let me be
a kleptomaniac of make-up
and hip clothes at the strip mall
where we shopped at kiosks
peering into the well of loneliness.
Let me wander somnambulant
among the empty storefronts,
to understand how abundance
clamored to weaponize our souls.
Cynthia Atkins (she/her), originally from Chicago, IL is the author of Psyche’s Weathers, In the Event of Full Disclosure, and Still-Life With God, Duets, a collaborative chapbook from Harbor Editions. Her work has appeared in many journals, including Alaska Quarterly Review, BOMB, Cider Press Review, Diode, Cimarron Review, Indianapolis Review, Lily Poetry Review, Los Angeles Review, Rust + Moth, North American Review, Permafrost, Plume, Seneca Review, and Verse Daily. She earned her M.F.A. from Columbia University. Atkins has earned fellowships and prizes from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, SWWIM Residency @TheBetsyHotel Writer’s Room, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The Writer’s Voice, and Writers@Work. Atkins lives on the Maury River of Rockbridge County, VA, with artist Philip Welch and their family. More work and info at cynthiaatkins.com.
Author photo: Anne Valerie
Image: “The Descent of Maisie, Colonie Center” by Daniel Nester
Pine Hills Review 