forceps
ovenbird
“
Let
’s
play
mechanic,”
he
whispers
and
she
finds
he
is
holding
a
pair
of
ovum forceps delicately
in
one
hand
.
He
runs
stainless
steel
fingers
over
her
shoulders
,
trails
the
hinged
extension
of
his
will
down
to
the
softest
parts
of
her
,
parts
that
yield
without
permission
.
He
explores
her
body
like
she
once
explored
the
corpse
of
a
rat
in
high_school
biology
: cutting
little
windows
into
the
chest
,
pulling
back
the
blinds
to
see
the
remnants
on
display
inside
…a formaldehyde
museum
.
She
is
not
dead
.
Not
dead
.
But
she
is
afraid
,
and
she
twists
her
limbs
away
from
his
searching
tools
and
reaches
for
warmth
that
isn’t
there
.
If
she
turns
herself
just
so
and
stares
at
the
white
abyss
of
the
wall
she
can
pretend
he
’s
someone
else
.
She
imagines
hands
that
are
always
a
delicate
question
: “
May
I
?”
Then
she
closes
her
eyes
while
every
memory
is
aborted,
leaving
her
raw
and
empty
and
bleeding
so
quietly
into
the
sheets
.
260913
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go
blather
from