Contributor: John Roth

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A girl shouts
from the front porch.

Her hair, caught on a rusty swing hook,

snaps like braided fishing line
as she works it loose.

What he plants in her scalp

are bent bobby pins and bruises
in the shape of a question mark.

How long will it take to remember
something she can never forget?

Later, she looks in her bedroom mirror,

dabs at her face with cover-up,
runs a scented Speed stick

under her armpits.

Still, the sweat comes out
all the same.


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John Roth is very secretive about his writing. His poems have appeared in The Orange Room Review, The Eunoia Review, Toasted Cheese, and Bird's Thumb, among others.