by Arianna Miller
Phantom Sting
With a line by Sandra Cisneros
What’s love? A brick
through a windshield; it’s a crime
to be full
of passion. And how do we
justify it? The weight of a structural
necessity? Splintering
glass? I once let a man tell me
he only wanted me but
would not call me his. I was kept
at an arm’s length, caged bird
with an open door & I wanted
nothing more than him
to shut it. Why was I shocked
when he left for her? It should have been obvious: a crack
in the foundation, easy access
to escape. Looking back, one brick
would not have been enough. If it’s unrequited
is it really love? Glistening shards crunched
under Timberland boots. Just last year,
my old roommate called to tell me
he married her. It didn’t hurt
anymore, phantom sting floating
in the middle of the mattress where my hand
held the hair on his chest.
Poet Arianna Miller is a poet and educator from Long Island, New York. She received her MFA from the University of South Carolina and attended the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference as a Poetry Contributor in 2022. Her poems have been featured in the Notre Dame Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, and elsewhere. Her work is forthcoming from the Atlanta Review. You can follow her on Instagram @ariwritesthings.
Artist Jeni Follman is a dynamic fine artist with a passion for expanding the limit of creative expression. Adept at thought-provoking and emotionally engaging works across a wide range of subject matter. Skilled storyteller, with an acute eye for composition and color, experiences painting as an opportunity to understand and record life.
Gulf Stream Magazine 