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Aura Martin

She Tried to Hug Me (But I Pulled Away)

            —Cento from The Color Master: Stories by Aimee Bender
 
            I walked back, kicking twigs and acorns. I want to do better. I ate oranges off the tree out back. Downstairs, the man was staring out the window. I mean, why not just be happy the way things are? On the ground, birds pecked into nothing.
            My mother sipped her sherry in the kitchen and sniffed. She hadn’t done dishes in weeks. Dad tilted his head down to his plate. I’m just noticing the patterns.
            We sat and sipped, the warm tea spreading through my chest. The radio expelled old songs. My sister nodded lightly.
            I once split my lip, jumping from the tree, and she sewed it up with ice and a needle she’d run through the fire. I’m sorry you have to go through this. The word marked by brake lights and bitten fingernails. Arlene, who made sure every used item went into the right bin because she wanted all things, everything, to find its way back into the world, new.
            Keep looking. Those embroidered suns.
            I saw myself, skipping through meadows in a yellow-and-blue-print dress. How to be a person? There was love to be felt, and discovered, still. There was a powerlessness that was kind.
            I know I have major cavities. I climbed up a tree and waited. 

Biography

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​Aura Martin graduated from Truman State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. She is the author of the micro-chapbook “Thumbprint Lizards” (Maverick Duck Press).  Her recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in 3 Moon Magazine, Flypaper Lit, and Poetry WTF?!, among others.  In Aura’s free time, she likes to run and take road trips. Find her on Twitter @instamartin17.
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ISSN 2639-426X
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  • Home
  • About
    • Contributors List
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  • Issues
    • Issue 49
    • Issue 48
    • Issue 47
    • Issue 46
    • Issue 45
    • Issue 44
    • Issue 43
    • Issue 42
    • Issue 41
    • Issue 40
    • Issue 39
    • Issue 38
    • Issue 37
    • Issue 36
    • Issue 35
    • Issue 34
    • Issue 33
    • Issue 32
    • Issue 31
    • Issue 30
    • Issue 29
    • Issue 28
    • Issue 27
    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions