The State of the Union
by Nathan McClain


The divorce was two
crows fighting over a worm,
the worm, torn to shreds

*

A naked Christ is
mounted on the wall, his bronze
face beaten and blank

*

The TV begins
to snow and the children are
buried in boredom

*

The daughter learns to
kiss from a teacher, apple
seeds slide down her throat

*

The son tries on his
mother's lipstick, ties his shirt
in a boy scout knot

*

Their father is a
downpour of rusted nails, a
hurricane of glass

*

A needle is pushed
into their mother's forehead,
her smile like rubber






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