G-O-D Backward

“Do you think God stays in Heaven

because He, too, lives in fear of what

He's created here on Earth?”

Romero, Spy Kids 2


I ask her, “Wouldn’t it be too cruel

for a god to make us and nothing

after?” If she were my parrot,

I could point

to a silver bowl, saying: “What’s that?

What’s that, again?”

And at the very least, she would squawk: 

“Metal. Met-uhl.” Tap, tap - with her beak

welcoming reflection. Instead,

it’s us laid out across

a duvet insert—that never had a cover

to begin with—silence set between two

bulbous eyes: iced 

iris mountains—permafrost in not knowing 

and better for it.

“Do you want to go outside?”

Her bobbed tail is out the door

before I can lift up from my elbows.

Holly Fortune Ratcliff

Holly Fortune Ratcliff (she/her) resides in Austin, Texas where she writes about her family, grief, and complicated relationship with food as well as an empowered form of nature - one with realized thoughts and combined autonomy. Her work has appeared in journals including Coffin Bell, Lucky Jefferson, and The Spotlong Review. You can find her on social sharing slow, small snippets @hollythehare.

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