Leah Callen
Coligny Boutonnière
Two lousy cents
caught you stealing sun-
flower heads so they broke
your black neck, stem
bent, the child dead-
headed. Spit off
a speeding white truck
for a couple of bucks,
the price on your head less
than eighty rand,
they said. Sixteen years fell off
backwards, shocked petals
spilled, trampled in overexcited
dust. They love you not. The sun-
flowers stare at us, a plantation
of giant brown eyes
with golden lashes. Did they gasp
or laugh when your neck
cracked? Cashing in your eye
for some eyes, a life
for some sunflowers.
caught you stealing sun-
flower heads so they broke
your black neck, stem
bent, the child dead-
headed. Spit off
a speeding white truck
for a couple of bucks,
the price on your head less
than eighty rand,
they said. Sixteen years fell off
backwards, shocked petals
spilled, trampled in overexcited
dust. They love you not. The sun-
flowers stare at us, a plantation
of giant brown eyes
with golden lashes. Did they gasp
or laugh when your neck
cracked? Cashing in your eye
for some eyes, a life
for some sunflowers.
Biography
|
Leah Callen is an emerging poet with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Victoria, BC. Her work has appeared in The Malahat Review, Barren Magazine, and Vallum Magazine. She was longlisted last year for the Vallum Award for Poetry. She is also a contributing poetry editor for Barren Magazine.
Find her on Twitter handle @LeahJCallen |
