I Do(e) The Dressing Room (south) welcomes our brides: Trilby, Carly, Angie, Cher, arrows pierce chalkboard hearts— the shop’s logo a rack of antlers, warning betrothed that soon their veils will turn and bristle twisted crown of points, velvet fur rubbed empty after the rut, the hunt, disembodied fawn. Remember how to field dress a deer? Skinned, stripped humped to truck, gun rack full, mounted on the wall hard-won prize, fur dew-damp, taken at dawn, dream they’ll wake as hunters, smell blood on sheets, aim vows frozen in headlights pointing the dark way home. Copyright 2022, Kindra McDonald
Bio:
Kindra McDonald is the author of the collections Fossils and In the Meat Years and the forthcoming collection Teaching a Wild Thing. She was the recipient of the 2020 Haunted Waters Press Poetry Award. She received her MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and is an Adjunct Professor of Writing and Teaching Artist at The Muse Writers Center. She served as the Poetry Society of Virginia Southeastern region Vice President from 2019-2022. You can find her in the woods or at www.kindramcdonald.com
30 for 30 is sponsored by Potomac Review
Incredibly evocative words, sensory images. Really impressive and creative!
How fresh and quirky, Kindra. I doubt there will many of us whose thoughts went in a similar direction! (Although oddly I also used the compound adjective “dew-damp” in my poem. If I don’t change it—I may, now—please know I wrote it before reading this!)