This is the Year (revision)

[arka]

Revision

of a body that feels wrong,
a mother who is all appetite,
of a brittle hardness.

of drunken dinner slurs,
baseball bats and broken
kitchen tiles, blood-
streaked faces,

a butcher knife poised
two inches
from taking
an eye.

of twisted feet,
mocking
retarded yelps
a fearful knowing

bodies reduced to meat
irrevocable
a switch

clicks.

submerged
in an icy pond
from which there is no


resurfacing.

~~~

Edit: Billy's comments helped me clarify some things.

excellent edit todd. shifting that first line to the title and letting those prepositional phrases take over. of a brittle hardness is cool. submerged sticks out like a sore participle or whatsit. maybe it can be done away with altogether or better replaced with something a bit more surprising. very much enjoyed the poem and the way the edit crystallized.

arka