Home Planet News

a journal of literature & art

10-Rubber Chicken

Rubber Chicken

At a dinner party

eating awful

chicken I thought

might be soy,

back when I was a sociologist,

I got seated next to

a dentist who put his hand

on my thigh and asked

what I did,

then, waving his knife,

blamed me

for ruining the world.

Who knew I channeled

Loviatar, daughter

of the god of death,

the one who gives birth

to plague, tries to steal

the sun, moon, and stars.

I said, yeah, that’s me,

and I wasn’t even wearing

a low-cut dress.

Now that I write poems,

it’s not only the dentists

that are off-put

at parties, so yes, I confess.

I did it.

I follow in the footsteps

of those who broke

the line

and stanza.

I killed the world.

Destructive bitch—

my middle name.

I’ve been smashing things up

for years.

Susana H. Case

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